Conor and Dayna's World

"Hooray for Hazel!"

2012-01-01T10:14:00.007-06:00

Thanks to Tommy Roe for creating this song back in the '60's to serve as a harbinger for her dating life.

Many people have been asking for pictures. So...here are a couple.

Hazel Screaming her head off during her 1st Bath

Hazel calmed down after the scrubbing

Hazel & G'ma Karen

Hazel & G'pa Jan

Hazel & Dad at the Hospital

Hazel before her 1st Dr's appointment

Hazel being tortured by mom during a photo shoot

Hazel & mom on Christmas

Hazel's Christmas Loot

The Fam after Church

Hazel, cousin Maddie, G'pa & G'ma Carroll

Family Photo, Christmas 2011

Spring Road Trip: Arizona

2011-12-09T17:09:00.001-06:00

As some of you are aware, Conor has taken a real liking to cycling the past 15 months. He loves it. I love that he loves it and the adventures it provided the past year. Not so much him being gone most every weekend on a long ride--but that's part of the territory and training he embarked on for his ultimate goal to ride in Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP). Conor was already commuting to and from work in downtown Houston and decided he wanted to do some longer rides like he had done growing up. He found a local randonneuring group to join and had long-distance rides to complete by the end of 2010 and first half of 2011. Lets just say a short ride to Conor is 40-50 miles. Needless to say, I haven't ever joined him. He feels we have plenty of years to work on that; I like his optimism. To read more about his cycling and getting inside his brain, or behind-the-scenes action, check out his blog. It's quite entertaining and I've actually been able to learn what his rides were really like. Not the, "pretty good" statements I was getting out of him after he had to sleep for hours to recoop.

In order to qualify for the PBP ride, Conor needed to complete a 600km ride. He found one in Arizona this Spring and thought it would be fun to take a trip. We strapped on his bike, loaded up the car and headed off for our adventure, taking a new route along the TX/Mexico border. Exciting and never plan to take that route again. The ride was around Tucson area. We went to Tombstone and played around a bit before, stayed in Sonoita at a charming inn, and wound up back where he started all the fun.

Slush Monkey--how could you pass that up?!

Miles and miles of road. Flat road.

One of my drive-by photos from the car. Could be New Mexico.

Conor in Tombstone, AZ--charming western town, albeit commercialized.

Store owner picked this hat out for me and told me how good I looked. LOL!

Quite excited over his locally brewed sarsparilla.

We had a dishwasher at hotel and it ate my plastic lid. Not to mention the horrid smell!!!

Conor all prepped the night before his big ride.

It was early--yes, I actually woke up and saw him off!

Scenes from Conor's ride along the route.

He slept a few hours at the Sonoita Inn where I stayed. I couldn't believe the amount of salt that sweat out of his body. Had to take some pics of the crusted salt on his helmet straps!!!

This has to be the funniest thing I've ever read. LOVE that he got a pic of it!!!

All finished!!! He made it. Had to show more of the salt on his face--and the sweet hair! : )

This is where we stayed. It was rather charming inside and all rooms were different.

Only place to eat--and the location of the wedding Jubi went to--see below. The wedding party stayed at the Inn.
I even met the bride and groom over breakfast. Now we're Facebook friends. Don't you love life?!

Across the street from Inn. All the businesses in town were housed there.

This sign cracks me up. Good thing we already had their number.

From my room. Watching for Conor--but I must have missed him!

My friend I met at the Inn, Jubi. She's from Luxembourg and flew out for a wedding.
I taught her how to eat an English muffin at breakfast and we bonded. : )

Rodeo!!!

2011-12-09T16:24:00.000-06:00

How can you live in Texas and not enjoy the rodeo?! : ) Lets say it's a rather big event in Houston and I was able to get in on the action this year. My friend, Cristy, volunteers for the Houston Rodeo and scored us some free concert tickets. We were able to go twice and check out some rodeo events and cowboys prior to the country concerts. Loved it!!! Still no luck finding Cristy a cowboy--maybe next year! ; )

Dayna posing with the cowboys.

1st Concert

Showing off my cowboy signature book. Cristy was jealous I had a heart on mine next to Clint. ; )

2nd Concert

My Mug Shot

2011-11-29T00:44:00.001-06:00

Oh yes, I am famous. My brother texted me this morning and said he liked my article on ksl.com and then my friend, Amberlee, also texted and said she liked my photo. I had to check it out for myself and this is what I found. http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=960&sid=18256157&title=record-low-number-of-americans-changing-residences

Yikes!!! Just over a week ago I had a phone interview and the following day they sent a photographer from Deseret News to take photos. Conor was totally jilted in the deal since he was working in North Dakota. I'm sure he's sad about it. Honestly, I figured it would be in section J, tucked away in the middle of the paper. Or, I wondered if the article would even be published and the editor would toss it out. It happens. My mom called a little later in the morning and said people in her neighborhood had called. By now it was on Facebook and posted to my wall. I get another text from my brother--with my mug on the front page of the newspaper!!! LOL--yikes. My mug plastered all over the front page. On people's doorsteps, newsstands, kitchen tables. Scary thought. It makes me laugh. Maybe I'll have to mod podge the article on some wood and hang up in our house. I guess in a way I was famous for a day and that makes me feel special. My mom always said I was special . . .

New Orleans!!!

2011-11-22T01:19:00.000-06:00

Conor had a last minute trip to New Orleans for work the end of February. He was able to book a flight, but there were NO rental cars in sight. He decided to cancel the flight and drive, and invited me along for the ride. (One of the sweet perks of self-employment and having a flexible schedule that I love.) I packed along receipts and papers to work on my business taxes and updated spreadsheets at the hotel. I managed to fit in some time at the pool and lay out (yes, I actually got sun--too much sun) and catch up on my photo magazines. It was close to Mardi Gras so we hit up a couple parades, caught some beads, wandered the French Quarter and all its glory, and ate at some of our favorite spots. Plus we spent time with friends that live there. In between it all, Conor managed to do the work he was sent to do.

This one's for my Dad--Semper Fi!!!

Conor at the parade

Dayna and MONKEY beads!!!

Cadillac Transformer--can you believe there's a guy under there?!

Well, I thought it was cool & gave him money & took a pic!

Infamous Saint Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter

Dayna & Natalia--we look great for after midnight! : )

Isabelle & Dayna

Conor & girlfriend Issy

Conor, Dave, Isabelle

We stood at edge of window and could look down on the street--we thought it was cool!
Below you can see all the people starting to line up for parade in the street.

I couldn't resist. Proof that a picture is worth a thousand words!

Dayna's Half Birthday

2011-11-21T22:12:00.000-06:00

Why celebrate once a year when you can do it twice?! Duh! The Carroll's love to celebrate their "birth month" and also highlight their half birthday as well. Normally this is not something I would ask or demand. It was more a fact that Conor owed me. Yes, he owed me--BIG time!!! Lets just say someone, no naming names, forgot my birthday last year. That someone did feel bad and decided to make it up on February 11th--my official half birthday. I had found an old antique mirror and a local shop and fell in love with it. I was surprised with a sweet note and the receipt. After work, we went and picked it up then went out for dinner. Doesn't my face say it all?!

Secretly, I was hoping my birthday would be forgotten again this year!!! It was a costly mistake, so I wasn't so lucky. . . . maybe next year. ; )

Ultimate Green Recycling

2011-11-21T21:59:00.000-06:00

Being the kinda of person I am:

1) I don't blog very often

2) I like to go back and blog what's happened to catch up before writing about the present

3) I will finally, officially announce our major life updates since my May post: we are expecting a baby girl in 2 weeks; Conor switched jobs and is now working for Sinclair Oil in SLC, UT; and obviously we relocated and now live in North Salt Lake, UT!!! More to come on section 3 later--hopefully soon! ; )

Back to the heart of my ever-exciting blog post. Conor and I love the convenience of ordering online and items showing up on our doorstop. In Houston we didn't order the recycling bins, nor have room to store them, so we chose to recycle cardboard only. Generally we would compile so much, we would put down the seat in the car and fill the entire space. This time, it was a nice, mild January day and we decided to ride our bikes to the recycling center a few miles away. I was doubtful it would all fit on Conor's bike--but look at his talent--and amazing use of bungee cords! We were laughing the entire way there--and got some of the strangest looks. We did impress the guy at the recycle center--he told us, "Now, that's what I call green recycling!" Maybe you won't be as impressed as he was, but perhaps it will give you a few good laughs. : )

Tagine!

2011-05-28T15:55:00.003-05:00

Conor found a fun recipe just over a year ago and we made it several times in a short period. He was on a vegetarian kick for a while . . . . Anyway it's a tasty Moroccan dish and very healthy. Here we took some photos of the prepped food and steps to make it. When it cooks down you serve over rice or couscous--delish! Recipe is posted below for those who would like it.

We used our Dutch Oven out back to avoid heating up the house. For this past Christmas I found a tagine cooker for Conor. We have yet to use it--but will soon!

Angola Soccer Game

2011-05-28T15:47:00.001-05:00

Conor scored some tickets to the Angola vs. Mexico soccer game last May (2010). We were able to invite a couple friends to join us and parked and rode the train to the Reliant Center.

I am not an avid soccer fan, but like attending live sports events. This was no exception and proved to be some awesome people watching!!! Check out our sweet shirts Conor's work gave us to wear to the game!

Very enthusiastic fan! It was nice of him to hold scarf for us to read behind him! ; )

Sail Away!

2011-05-28T15:01:00.002-05:00

I obviously am not good at blogging and haven't posted in ages! I spend all my mad blogging efforts on my photography site. Which doesn't receive much attention, either! However, we do tend to take pictures wherever we go and lead slightly more than boring lives, thus I am here to share!!! : )

Since I have pics for the past couple of years I never posted (and still would like to), I figured I'll feature some blasts from the past mixed with current happenings. So fun!

Memorial Weekend for 2010 found Conor and I sailing the seas. He got an itch for sailing and missed his days in Minnesota on a catamaran. We signed up for sailing lessons near Galveston and had quite the adventure. After our training class, tests, and going out several times on the boat and learning how it all works, we set sail! Those things I've always known as ropes--no, they are "lines" on a boat. Port refers to the left side of the boat and Starboard (they all pronounced it Starbird--maybe it's the Texan in them?) is the right side. There was the captain and several other people on the boat with us. We cooked, ate, slept and sailed for several days on the sailboat. Another reason I didn't write about the experience last year.

I am happy to report we ARE certified skippers and can sail around the world, or we would be able to charter a sailboat. Our sailing trips didn't leave the best impression on me and I have no intention of ever owning a boat. And Conor's dream of sailing around the world or living (yes, LIVING permanently) on a sailboat--killed!!!! I am an admitted dream crusher. He said we should give sailing another shot. Someday.

Here are the only photos we have. We were hard at work and not many photo opps.

I remember when gas was 10 cents/gallon

2011-01-30T10:16:00.002-06:00

I can now say that. I spent the last week in two different countries - Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela. Gas is technically free in Venezuela, but you have to pay a small service charge for the guy pumping the gas. With the current "exchange rate," it works out to be about 10 cents/gallon. No wonder all the expats have motor boats.

I didn't have a lot of time outside of work to get out and take some pictures, but what I was able to see of the two countries was pretty nice. I wish to see Caracas during the day sometime. It seems like a beautiful city...such a shame.

I flew into T&T first. And I got one picture from the hotel.

Our Charter flight from T&T to Puerto La cruz (technically...Lecherias).

Puerto La Cruz from the airplane. Our "4 Star" hotel was out on the tip of the peninsula.

Proof that our hotel is "4 Stars." You be the judge...

Of Course, the pool area was beautiful...too bad I didn't have time to use it.

A traditional Venezuelan breakfast.

In Venezuela, we ate Italian food three nights in a row. Here is my meal in Caracas. I like their Italian spin...lots of carne!

Finally, a picture for Dayna in the T&T airport.

Ring on Wild People...

2011-01-05T18:57:00.005-06:00

With the new year upon us, we aim to change those things that have been bothering us for the last year. With our efforts typically landing flat on their faces in Feb. So, this post isn't about our goals, but just to say we had an excellent 2010. Dayna's business well exceeded our goals and was a tremendous success. And I had another moderately entertaining year at the salt mines. But, I can happily announce that I am now a professionally licensed engineer. All I have to do now is just pay my annual fee and I get to keep that privilege. In hindsight, it doesn't seem like we do much does. Besides work of course.

On another note, we had an excellent time with the Carroll Clan in Indiana. For the first time ever, our family had formal family pictures taken. Thanks no less to the gracious Mademoiselle Van de Merwe. Without further adieu, here is the current state of the Carroll Clan, pending additions....

Dayna and la Mademoiselle...

And here are some pictures of our Christmas in action. First off, I would like to mention that Princess Peach is safe and sound. Dayna realized some jealousy issues this break, but I think we made great headway getting past those. Here is me in action saving Princess Peach.

Here is the Christmas tree my parents got. That's a root bulb on the bottom...

The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree...

We love to eat, and it shows in our physique. But, here are some Korean chicken wings...

...and gyoza...

Isn't my mother just darling?!?

my father and his "Lamp Leg" tie

My father and I digging a hole to plant the Christmas tree, Otto watching

Finally, we got Brenna & Otto Just Dance 2, here they are rocking it out.

409 km...on a bicycle

2010-12-16T12:26:00.002-06:00

Sometimes, you just have to gloat. And this last Saturday, I knocked off a major obstacle in the randonneuring world, a 400 km ride. 21 hours, 5 minutes.

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The 'tas

2010-11-12T11:46:00.003-06:00

Dayna and I broke away for a quick trip up to Oklahoma. And yes, climbing was involved.

We camped in deluxe style--space heater, laptop for movies, flushable toilets and hot showers. We arrived at the camp in the dark. Quickly made camp (in our church clothes) and hopped in the tent for a movie. The next morning, this is what we woke up to.

A little bit better picture once we were up and about...

We climbed the first day at Elk Slabs. The climbing was fun and easy. The approach, not so much. Seems the trails are a lot harder to find than one would expect. Fun nonetheless, and I will eventually drag Dayna back up there (now that we know where we are going). Oh, and shutterbug forgot her camera.

The second day, we headed over to the narrows area.

With our late start and our bad luck, the only other climbers in the refuge were on the route we wanted to climb. No biggie, as there were plenty of open routes. We climbed this route (picture from the bottom).

Conor getting ready to climb (just had to adjust the sleeves a bit)...

Climbing in progress...

Dayna at the top...

And one of our buddies who were everywhere...

The second day, we headed over to Mt Scott (highest point in the refuge). The refuge borders Ft Sill, which has some artillery units. They were having practice that day, and we could see where they were hitting the mountain across the lake from us. Pretty cool! I headed up a "5.7" called high anxiety, nothing like the 5.7 I did my first sport lead on. I seemed to forget the hand jams and the "power" moves high anxiety was requiring. All was well and I made it to the top. Dayna jammed her way to the top as well (just kidding, just a couple of jams were needed).

Using all my knowledge, I managed to burn my finger one night. The granite quickly took care of this. My finger after high anxiety (and washing my hands).

We heard about a rumored burger place up the road from Mt Scott. Naturally, we just had to go. We settled on the "seismic burger," which was a full pound of beef w/ bacon, onion and all the fixings. Supposedly, pure Texas Longhorn Beef (no hormones). It was awesome. We also had onion rings, freedom fries (the owner is apparently conservative) and fried peaches.

The owner also has a sense of humor...or does he???

To help settle our Burgers, we headed back into the Narrows to attempt the route the other people were on the other day, but felt there was not enough time (the gates are locked at "sunset," whatever that means) and didn't want to risk getting stuck. We took the time to grab a Christmas Card picture--what do you think?

A picture of me defeated from the early sunsets.

We woke the next morning to rain (all our stuff is out drying as I type). We packed up everything wet, cooked breakfast and left. We chatted with our kind "neighbors" for a bit, who kindly got us a cinnamon roll from a place we had read about online and told them about it. They made it, and we didn't, but they were kind enough to bring us one. And on the way out, we stopped at the Ft Sill Museum to see some "canons," aka artillery.

And, we'll leave you with this bit of happiness.

Thieves!!!

2010-10-03T17:38:00.002-05:00

It wasn't too many years ago that I went inside a corner gas station to pay for my gas (this was before I believed in owning a credit card) and as I wrote out my check, the man behind the counter told me I had "an innocent face". It puzzled me, somewhat embarrassed me in front of the line of other customers, and I gave him a blank look. He insisted it was a compliment, and tried to explain I looked like a good, honest person. Nobody had ever told me that before and it came as a surprise to hear such a thing. I did thank the man and hurried on my way. It's nice to know that by our actions and countenance, hopefully people notice something different in us. This story came to mind the past few weeks over a recent incident.

I had never felt so upset, distraught, disturbed, anxious, nervous in my life. And for what?! I had done nothing wrong! I was bothered for hours afterwards before finally feeling somewhat settled, then peace, then laughter over the entire ordeal.

Over Labor Day weekend, Conor and I traveled down to Harlingen, TX. It was 5 1/2 hours from Houston, and near the border of Mexico. We went there to shoot a wedding and booked the event exactly a year earlier. Due to recent events, many border towns are no longer safe, so going into Mexico was definitely out of the question. I decided to make a weekend of it, then we could get settled in, see the area, check out the venues for the wedding, and have plenty of time to travel there and back. We arrived Friday evening and I checked in with our bride so she knew we had arrived. She asked if we could drive to her house the next day, so we knew where to go (she was getting ready there and wanted photos). We told her we would do that, and then also check out the church and reception.

The next day we slept in, then prepared for a day at the beach on South Padre Island, and headed out to find the bride's house and other venues. I drove, since I would be the one going to her house, and wanted to make sure I remembered it all. Our gps was stolen a couple months ago (I'll post about that another time.), so we looked up the addresses and wrote notes to get around. We arrived in the neighborhood, drove slowly past the houses, looking for the addresses, found it, went around the corner, turned around, and headed back out. We proceeded to the church, then onto the reception place in Brownsville. By this time we've travelled more than 20 miles from the bride's house. Due to construction we were on the feeder road and pulled up to a stop light. A car pulled up rather closely beside us and motioned for us to put our windows down. We thought they needed directions. A lady reached across her husband, taking photos of us with her pink camera phone. Did we really look that much like tourists?! That thought was cut short with screaming, ranting and raving. I looked more closely at the couple and recognized him as a man watering his bushes outside a neighboring house to the bride's family. We were accused of being at their house earlier and stealing from them, breaking into their vehicle. Then coming back to finish the job. I was trying to explain myself, and who we were, what we were doing there, Conor's telling them to call the cops, and my head is spinning all the while. Totally insane!!! Finally I told them we were there for Stephanie's wedding and the guy went silent, she kept going and informed us we don't belong in their neighborhood. The light changed--finally!!!!--and they went right, we went straight. I was in shock over all of this happening.

Not wanting to bother and upset the bride, I figured I would address the issue the following day when I arrived. It turns out the neighbors are actually really good friends with her parents and were attending the wedding. Sweet! LOL! The man realized they had wrongfully accused us, and went over that night to let them know what they had done and apologized and was rather embarrassed. The dad thought it was hilarious and told me they had all locked their car doors before I arrived to shoot. lol. Then the mom had us sit together during the wedding dinner to become better acquainted. Rather nice people, with a misfortunate mistake. After stepping back, I can see we looked suspicious, driving around slow, female driver, Conor & I had dark shades on, he had a ball cap, unshaven face--we both didn't look our best. Too funny!!! Definitely a wedding to remember! I love my job!!!!

Here's our mug shots. Oh, and our Starbucks gift cards the nice couple gave us, along with an apology card. We are forgiving souls, so there were no hard feelings, just a memorable story!

New Bedding!

2010-10-03T14:12:00.000-05:00

Change is good! I was so excited to purchase a new bedspread for our room. The other was nice, but totally didn't match the bright, crazy green I painted in our room. Conor wanted color . . . and he got it! Of course our cherry furniture it further enhanced by the green on the walls, and clashes even more with our dark teak floors. But, I tried! Trying to work with what we already had. The new bedding did help and it was fun to change the look.

In July we purchased a new mattress. Sooo comfy! I sleep much better and no longer wake up every time I turn sides. Yeah! In August we finally bought a rug for under our bed. We meant to do it since we had moved it since the bed slides all over the wood and has unfortunately scratched our floors. : ( Love the rug! It pulled in the look of the room even more. No pic yet--maybe after I get a photo printed and hung over our bed. It may be a while, so don't hold your breath!!!

Whipping

2010-07-02T12:06:00.003-05:00

Conor: "I'm going to whip you."
Dayna: "That sounds like fun."
Conor: "It will be."

[Conor whips Dayna]

Dayna: "That was fun, whip me again!"

This is almost what it was like - less the tattoos, mini skirts and fishnets.

Skeletons in the Closet

2010-05-16T17:23:00.001-05:00

Back in February, while Conor was in Angola for work, I went to the hall closet to pull out the vacuum. With the small amount of daylight, I noticed something on the floor as I reached for the vacuum coaster base. As I put my hand down to pick it up, I quickly retracted and gasped. I couldn't believe my eyes! It was a lizard! Or, I should say, the skeletal remains of a lizard which were quite nicely preserved! Being the freak that I am, I found a stiff piece of paper to scoop him up and moved him to higher ground.

We had freezing temperatures this past winter in Houston. I had purchased some plants and trees last fall that were all outside. Some were houseplants I meant to move indoors, but didn't have the pots ready to transplant just yet. When it started to freeze, we moved the plants indoors to their new home. Along with them came some lizard friends. I had found several of them, one-by-one in the bromeliad, near the front door. They are chameleons and change color, so some days they were brownish, like the wood flooring, and other days they were green, like the plant leaves, and sometimes a mix of both. I had to keep my eyes peeled so as not to step on them when going to and from the office. I am NOT a pet person and wished them to go back where they belong, outside, but will admit I found them rather cute! I would look for them during the day and seldom would they come out. Conor successfully moved one lizard outside, after it scared me on my office desk. Apparently, this one wasn't quite so lucky. . . What do YOU have hiding in your closets?!

P.S. I love white elephant parties and think this little guy, lacquered up on a piece of driftwood, would be fabulous!!! : )

P.P.S. My family all thought I was a freak when we showed our lizard friend to them over the webcam on Easter. They couldn't believe I kept him. He's quite cute--what can I say? I put my pinky finger next to him in a pic so you can see the size. Shane and Mindy were quite surprised how small he really is when they came to visit. lol

Hummus + Baba Ganoush

2010-04-19T19:28:00.005-05:00

Well, I got on this weird kick where I love Mediterranean food. Inspired mainly by this sweet restaurant. So...I said to myself, I can make this yummy nectar of life known as hummus and baba ganoush.

So...I embarked on an afternoon of cooking and baking (I decided to make the bread as well). The hummus turned out pretty well IMHO. The bread was...edible. But, we are able to share with our friends at the wonderful silent movie at Discovery Green. It seemed like it went over pretty well. I'm posting the recipe here (sans the pita bread)...

Tahini - 1 cup sesame seeds, a little EVOO. Roast seeds @ 340 in oven, do not brown. Put in food processor. Add oil as needed to make a paste. I should also add that if you plan on venturing into the world of falafel, you might want to consider an oil that is more stable at high heat than olive oil (aka veg oil).

Hummus - 16 oz chick peas, strained. 1/4 cup chick pea water. 2-3 cloves of garlic. 1.5 tsp tahini. Olive Oil. Fresh lemon juice. Salt. Put in food processor and hit go. Blend until it looks like hummus. Tweak ingredients to suit your taste. For spicy variation, I added cayenne pepper and a couple of thai chilies.

Baba Ganoush - Roast eggplant @ 400 degrees for 30-40 mins (make sure to poke holes with a fork). After roasting, place eggplant in cold water. Skin and put in food processor. With eggplant, add 1/4 cup tahini (I had less than that), lemon juice, a couple of cloves of garlic, olive oil, pepper and salt. Hit go on the food processor.

The great thing about all these recipes are you can just chop, taste and refine. Really easy. Also, you can get as creative as you want with other things to add to your hummus (we're open to suggestions, we have a lot of chick peas left over). And Anne's idea about using it as a spread on sandwiches, excellent.

I estimate a 2 cup batch of hummus cost just over $1. We bought the huge can of chick peas, so we saved a lot of money there. Just a note for the cost conscience.

Me and the tahini

Baba Ganoush prior to processing!

Rolling out the pita bread dough

Hummus in finished state

Dough after rising

Me and spicy hummus

Done pitas (I have a few ideas to improve)

Houston Burger

2010-04-14T07:31:00.003-05:00

We have been in Houston for over a year now. OK, just at a year for Dayna. We have found all these awesome restaurants, but one thing has been missing from our list of regulars. A burger.

It's been so bad that when I craved a burger last time, I thought about going to BK. There is the greasy burger stand in The Heights, which is so impressive I can't recall its name. It's on the corner of 11th and Studewood. But, I was almost reduced to going chez MacDo, as the French would say, over that lousy Heights Hamburger Place.

But, it's amazing how smart this guy is. He led us straight to the promised land of hamburgers. And after we crossed the sea, there stood Christian's. Check out Texas Burger Guy's review of the place.

Well, we can put the Conor & Dayna stamp of approval on Christian's. It's nice to have a place near home where we can go pick up a good burger. This place is starting to feel more like home everyday.

Next up...Smashburger!

Bring on the BEEF!!!

2010-04-03T20:14:00.001-05:00

Digging in the archives now, trying to catch up with life. I'll go back to where I left off last fall. Yes, I am fully aware it is April . . . . just be grateful Conor posted the video while on our Utah trip in December! ; )

So, many of you may find this amusing. I am 31 years old and had never cooked a "real" roast. Only thing I had ever done was venison roasts, from deer and elk--which were small cuts. The only way I had ever prepared them in the past was using the pressure cooker. They were alright, but probably stored in the freezer way too long before I got to that point. (Having an upright freezer that was larger than my fridge just perpetuated the awful cycle!) Growing up we ate red meat and potatoes all the time--to the point I grew sick of it. Most of my adult life I haven't eaten or cooked them much. Chicken has become my protein of choice! : )

Last fall Conor wanted to know if we could have roast, potatoes, etc. and have the traditional Sunday meal after church. I laughed and then realized I haven't done that in years, let alone since we've been married. That next week I found a roast at the store that looked interesting and decided to try my hand at a real beef roast! I don't even recall what it was now--crown rib roast? I browned it with seasonings and cut slits for garlic and rosemary--then added all the other goodies. Baked it in the oven until medium rare and it was good. I personally think it looked better than it tasted. lol The following weeks I tried a slow cooked roast in the crock pot, with meat only and fixings baked on low in the oven. Loved that!!! Then I tried one with it all together in the crock pot--meat was amazingly tender and fell apart, once again, but I like the flavor of my potatoes, carrots, onion, etc. by itself. Always have.

Here's to my attempts to reawaken my homemaking self and preparing better, home-cooked meals!

Road Trip to Utah

2009-12-22T11:58:00.003-06:00

Dayna and I finally made it to Utah, via a car. It took over 5 days and we saw some amazing things. We put together this photo slideshow for everyone to see the goodness in which we partook.

Brazos Bend Camping Trip

2009-12-06T11:31:00.017-06:00

Well, we finally made it out camping in Texas during November! Yeah!!! It was perfect camping weather. Cooled off at night, but not too cold. Beautiful, warm, sunny weather during the day that was nice enough for shorts. Our friends, the Campbell's and Downs's, joined us on our venture to Brazos Bend State Park only an hour from Houston. The biggest draw to this area--at least for me--was the fact that there are alligators! I had never seen an alligator outside of a zoo and thought it sounded exciting to camp near them.

We all arrived in the dark and pretty much took the last camping spot available. Needless to say, we were packed in like sardines. It's definitely not primitive camping, but we enjoyed our getaway. My favorite was the entire Boy Scout Council that seemed to be surrounding us. . . It didn't make me want to join--despite all their signs encouraging me to do so. It was probably the earliest I've woken up in a year--I love those high-pitched squeals from young boys before the crack of dawn. It was WAY before the crack of dawn but you would've thought it was 10 am with all the clatter! I hope we kept them up with all our chatting and laughter the night before! : )

Some highlights: seeing a variety of funky spiders, interesting birds, alligators, eating good food, enjoying company of friends, s'mores, seeing the stars, and a fire ant attack on my right ankle (6 bites from the little guy gave me a cankle--pretty sweet!). Can't wait to go camping again! Enjoy the photos and make sure to check out the video at the end (pause the music playlist on the right column before starting)!

Happy Halloween!!!

2009-11-09T14:18:00.010-06:00

I bought 3 pumpkins that adorned our doorstep until Halloween day. One was used for our dinner in a pumpkin--which is a yummy casserole that's all cooked and you just clean the pumpkin, stuff with its new guts and bake in the oven. The other two were pawns in our hands and both experienced some of our carving skills. Conor also cleaned, salted and baked a punch of pumpkin seeds as well. I made Ghosts in the Graveyard dessert to top off our somewhat themed dinner. Of course there was snacking on the candy bars since the trick-or-treaters were practically non-existent on our street. That's why you always buy candy you like!!! : )

We had a couple friends over for dinner and had fun hanging out. Unfortunately the pumpkin was taking it's pretty time (kinda like me) and never did soften up enough to scoop some out with the dinner. It tastes like squash and is great if it's cooked! Bummer! Maybe next year I'll get it right. . . . And next year I won't be competing with football!!! : )

Surprises Come In Big Packages

2009-11-06T10:25:00.017-06:00

A couple days before Halloween, we came home to a surprise on our doorstep. We had been shooting some bridal photos and by the time we were home it was dark. Conor wanted to know what I had ordered and I insisted nothing. He brought in the large box and told me it didn't look like nothing. Shane had just texted and told us to check our door so I figured it was from him. We had no clue what was inside, but it weighed a fair amount. I was guessing a 5 lb. brick of caramel for apples and candies since I told Shane I couldn't find any here. We opened up our box and found some lovely surprises!

I love surprises!!!

Me, trying to act surprised.

Almond Joys=joy in my mouth! Those are the best packing pellets I've seen yet!
Look at his face! Like a kid at Christmas!!!

I had to pry them out of his fingers . . .

He drank the first one so fast I couldn't capture it. So here was round 2 the next morning, thus the fluffy hair.

I think I should've timed this . . .

And he polishes it off!

He knows if he tilts it at an angle he can suck a few more drops out.

Officially gone and already compacted for the trash! : )

We were so excited and welcome surprises any time!!! : ) Shane and Mindy felt bad they were no longer going to be able to visit before Thanksgiving like we had talked about last month and sent us this consolation prize. Conor is especially grateful (not that you're not visiting) because he has been out of his beloved rootbeer milk for a couple months now. You can buy it in Logan at the Gossner's cheese factory. I bought 5 cases before we moved and hauled it with us. When we drive to UT for the holidays we're stocking up on more. Conor insists this is part of the year's supply food storage we should be saving . . . Shane thought it quite comical that we'll be loading up our car with cases of the stuff and wanted to see what it was all about when they visited Logan recently. They were very kind to think of us and send us our goodies! Thank you guys!!! We look forward to your visit next spring!

One Year Ago--South Korea

2009-11-02T11:42:00.006-06:00

Ya, so we all know I never followed through in posting pics from our trip last year. I started out all gung-ho earlier this year with a slideshow from the first leg of our trip in Seoul. When the slideshow wouldn't play on our blog, I gave up and moved on to other things and forgot about it. Last week Conor and I were reminiscing about what we were doing last year at this time. He realized this would be his first year "home" in 4 years for Halloween. Last year we were in the air, flying to S. Korea when it hit. Total bummer! But our trip and experiences quickly made up for it! : )

Here is my tribute to exactly one year ago today! (At least according to my camera--it's too much work to figure out the EXACT same time it would've been November 2nd over there!).

All of the photos are from Hahoe Folk Village. With the exception of the last one--where Conor's loving our massive platter of food. It was a tasty, spicy Korean dish. I loved it except the fact that the entire chicken seemed to be included (minus the head and feet) and I had to start inspecting each bite. Enjoy our pics of looking back to 2008!!!

The Happy Couple!

2009-10-29T16:06:00.002-05:00

A couple of years ago Malia was very sneaky and managed to obtain a stack of old photos from Grandma Percy's house for a "Relief Society lesson". Well, there's some truth to that, but we wanted them for another reason. Unfortunately I kept them MUCH longer than I intended. Fortunately I am finally using another of the photos from the collection I scanned in. I have wanted to print and frame this photo ever since and finally retouched it today so I can send off to the lab. Yeah!!!

They are my great-grandparents on my dad's side--his father's parents. Nathaniel Eli Thomas and Susan Elizabeth Whitt were married November 19, 1903 in the Logan Temple. Almost 106 years ago--awesome! My middle name, Sue, came partly from this woman and a Susannah on my mom's side of the family. Maybe I'll be able to track down a pic of her, too! Just a little bit of family history that has come to life for me. I'm hoping to track down more photos of our grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, etc. on each side to add to our collection. This is fun! : )

Chelsea's Visit

2009-10-25T21:40:00.003-05:00

Fall is here!!! There may be no turning of the leaves, but our fall weather has arrived in Houston. We like to think Chelsea brought it with her from Utah during her stay two weeks ago. She visited for the weekend and when she arrived after midnight, it was smothering and nasty outside--felt just like a sweet, humid night I remember all too well. By the next day it had cooled 30 degrees and rained every day she was a here. Made it easier to stay indoors and accomplish my horrid project: cleaning up the rest of the upstairs bedrooms. Chelsea is the best friend ever and was so kind to offer (or at least agree after I twisted her arm 30 times) to help me tackle the daunting task. Despite all my efforts the past year, I still had a lot of crap--there's no polite way to put it! We were successful in our efforts and made it livable and now both bedrooms are ready for guests to visit! Yeah!!!! She was even so kind as to help Conor go through his belongings as well. lol. Sorry we don't have pics of the before and after but the stacks of stuff blocked the view. For those that saw it previously, you'll have to come back and check it out. I still have to decorate most the upstairs and hang things on the walls but have no clue what to do yet. I'm trying to let the creative juices flow since my brain is not filled with the clutter!

So, back to what's important. I was much in need of some Chelsea time and had missed her dearly. I was so excited she was able to visit! It was fun to hang out, talk and catch up a bit. Next time I promise we will: have more time to play, see the sites, not eat any ground beef chimichangas, and TURBO!!! ; ) We ate out, saw Whip It (hilarious--all 3 of us enjoyed it!) at the movies, went to the Houston Arts Festival downtown and had our friend Danielle join us, got loads of chocolate goodness at the Chocolate Bar, and topped off our sugar fix at Candylicious. Or maybe we topped it off to our trip to Kroger for ice cream and more candy. . . those Core Skittles flavor are amazing! I felt a little sick. But it was a great weekend and we loved having Chelsea here--just like old times!

Korean Festival

2009-10-07T12:13:00.004-05:00

Look how tasty! Conor heard that they were holding the first-ever Korean Festival here in Houston last Saturday. It has been almost a year since our trip to South Korea and we thought it would be a fun experience. It would've been better had I not botched the time. We arrived 20 minutes before it ended. The dances were held indoors and we couldn't even crowd through the doorway to see what was going on. We just admired all the Korean people, they do have cute kids, and tried some food. No clue what this dish was called--but it was good, maybe even better since we ate with our fingers since they ran out of chopsticks. Fingers are just portable chopsticks! I love these clear noodles. We're going to have to test out the restaurant to satisfy our Korean food cravings! Any takers?

Flat Stanley

2009-10-06T00:44:00.013-05:00

My friend's son needed help with his Flat Stanley project for 9th grade a couple weeks ago. They live in Utah and had to find someone in another state. I printed him out, gave him a nice trim and had a day of fun. You can read below what I wrote for him; it's somewhat entertaining. And excuse the highly professional photos!

Well, they say, "Go big or go home"! That’s when we gladly welcomed Stanley into our home. Home is Houston, Texas. The terrain is much different than Utah and there are no mountains to speak of in Houston. It is very hot and humid, but this week it was finally “cool” and rained a lot. The big difference is this time of year the rain wasn’t hot and muggy and brought a lovely cool air with it. Because of the torrential downpours, which is a normal rainstorm here, it put a damper on our day of fun with Stanley where we could take him out on the town and show him a good time.

Our adventuresome day started out at home. Now, this is where I spend 95% of my time. I am self employed as a photographer and had some wedding photos to edit and get ready to post online. Stanley was an avid observer and learned how to use Lightroom and Photoshop, plus check e-mails every 5 minutes and respond to those as well. We were then graced by the presence of a DirecTV newbie that didn’t have a clue what he was doing. But after nearly five hours he finally had our dish installed, boxes hooked up, and plenty of new holes drilled into the house to tempt more cockroaches. I quite dislike the nasty, filthy, grotesque rodents and kill them the instant I find one. It’s a necessity to have pest control and I love having them come if I find anything crazy running around the house. If you spent most your time inside the house, you would too! Stanley enjoyed a little cable while I finished up the photos.

Then we were off to the local post office to mail a couple packages. Looked like any other post office in the United States. Nothing exciting, other than trying to get creative with moving the stale air filled with a man’s b.o. standing in line behind me. Then it was off to downtown Houston, about 5 miles from our house. My husband, Conor, works for Chevron in the old Enron building. It’s a beautiful glass building with spectacular views of the city. Stanley hung out in Conor’s office and checked out the sweet view from the window. Amazingly he wasn’t scared of heights!

Conor came home from work and we took a field trip a few miles away to show some of our area. You can see them together in the photos. First was a house a few blocks from ours in an area called the Heights (kinda like the Avenues in SLC). The past couple of weeks an arsonist has been lighting fires to old, abandoned houses in the Heights and burning them. I think there are 9 now in this recent rash and pretty scary when it hits that close to home! Most of the homes in our neighborhood are around 100 years old and have a lot of character. There a lot on the historic register and people fight to preserve them. The Heights is the highest part of Houston and therefore the safest area around for hurricanes. It has been 1 year since Ike hit Galveston, 45 miles from here. Hurricane season is going on right now and it’s something we always have to be prepared for. That’s why Stanley helped me clip some coupons earlier so I can save money building up our food storage!

The next stop was an old historical bridge with the river below. It has an amazing view of downtown and we just showed a small piece of it hear since we were in the tow zone and they were putting out orange cones to do construction right then. But we couldn’t cheat you on the view. We visited Glenwood, an old and beautiful cemetery close to the Heights. Trees and gorgeous landscaping enclose and add to the privacy of this place. As you can see, with all our humidity and rain we receive, it’s really more a tropical area and it stays green almost year-round. It is a busy and fast paced area—4th largest city in the country—and takes quite a while to get around because there are so many people and the city is spread out. It is a beautiful area with many amenities and many options. We were happy to take Stanley into our lives for a day and allow ya’ll to see deep into the heart of Texas!

Pizza! Pizza!

2009-09-30T16:23:00.008-05:00

Oh yes, look how tasty! This pizza was divine! Greasy with all the cheese and pesto sauce, but simply wonderful. Hand tossed crust and fresh ingredients--love it! I do wish the crust was thicker on the bottom and will try to request it next time. Conor wanted to know if it compared to The Pie Pizzeria in SLC, but that place is still one of my favorites and has amazing crust! But for Houston, It may be the best out there. My Dad always taught me that you need to find a good pizza place and burger joint. When we traveled on vacation while growing up, most of our meals and snacks we prepared ourselves to save money. But we would splurge on unique pizza and burger places. So, Conor and I have been on the hunt and am happy to say we've found both! Pink's Pizza and Someburger are both a mile or two from our home in Houston. Yeah!!! But this is not to say we will give up our search--never never! Editor's Note: The signature burger, 'Someburger', was unable to provide a photo due to the quickness and agility with which it was devoured.

My favorite cards in August

2009-09-14T12:42:00.004-05:00

I know we're halfway through September (yikes!) but these finally get their deserved attention. I celebrated my 31st (yikes! again) birthday last month and even though I am getting older and I don't feel it. But apparently they put you on some mailing list after you hit 30. I love that they came around my birthday as well. I think it's really a club of people in their 80s and 90s sitting around, looking for young people to prey on. This is how they get their jollies perhaps?

Hands down my favorite was for the pre-paid cremation. That's right folks, a drawing is held every month for an all-expenses-paid cremation! And I could've been the winner! Beltone is offering $800 towards a set of hearing aids. But I missed the boat on that one as you can see it has already expired. I'm hoping if I hold out a few more years, the discount will double! Then again, Grandma Percy doesn't have nice things to say about Beltone. . . The only redeeming thing about all of these is the fact that they're not really to me. They have the name all wrong!!! haha!

This last photo, I just couldn't resist! Conor gave it to me for our anniversary and I just love it! : )

Free is Fabulous!

2009-09-14T11:30:00.003-05:00

My mom taught me to me a bargain shopper, clip coupons, and love a good deal. So I can't help but be ecstatic when something free comes along. Even better when it favors both parties!!! When we looked at our home, I despised the rose bushes and evergreen type bush/trees growing in the front. I love flowers and roses, but these didn't even compare to wild roses. Three oversized bushes with the size of mini roses growing on them. They were a pain to weed around and constantly were entangling my hair and clothes. Plus I was getting scratched like crazy. The evergreen tree/bush things were each 8-10 feet tall and just not becoming. Dreading trying to pull all of these out myself and then dispose of them, was a somewhat daunting task. Then I had the brilliant idea while taking pics of items around the house to sell, that I could also post these on Craigslist. I listed them on the Free section and within less than 2 hours I had multiple offers for people to come and take them! Best part is, it was the middle of July and they were digging them up themselves!!! Love it!!! Everyone was happy and I now have a beautiful clear view out my office windows! It opened up the house more, too. We both like the change. Now to figure out how to landscape it. . . . when it cools off a little more we'll get it taken care of! : )

Monkey's Are Smart

2009-08-23T20:45:00.002-05:00

How can you look at this photo at not smile?! It was taken in China and labeled monkey eating a lolly. Looks like a banana creamy to me. Mmmmmmmm . . . . . tasty! I could handle some of those in the Houston heat!

Our 1st Anniversary!!!

2009-08-20T14:37:00.006-05:00

Well folks, Conor and I have survived our first year of marriage! So a celebration was in order and we traveled to San Antonio for a getaway. Our schedules have been busy lately, so it was only overnight. But we stayed in a beautiful hotel right on the river walk. It was an interesting city with loads of character. I am dying to go back again and take photos. Did I mention the humidity level was also lower? Loved that!!! We only took one camera and had to share. Plus the little point-and-shoot camera died last month. So we have no photos of the two of us and were limited on images, but still have some fun shots. More are posted on our photo blog: www.daynaphoto.blogspot.com if you want to really blow your minds! lol

We walked around parts of the river walk, took a boat tour, ate some magnificent food, toured the Alamo (of course!), watched a street painter using aerosol paint, listened to the "preacher" at night belting out how we're all sinners, looked at several of the other missions in San Antonio, lounged at the pool, listened to a mariachi band, took photos at night, and one of the highlights--we were wedding crashers!!! That's right, our hotel posted a wedding was taking place the evening we stayed there. Our room was on the first balcony, providing a bird's eye view of the small courtyard wedding below. We decided we could take better photos than their photographer and decided to grab the camera and see what we could get. Not bad for hand holding on the balcony, trying to be stealthy. It provided some entertainment and we enjoyed the moment! :)

Houston, we have landed!!!

2009-07-30T00:57:00.007-05:00

Okay, so I know I haven't added my two cents to the blog in over 5 months. Not exactly ideal. . . but on a positive note, I have been adding regular blogs every week to the photo blog!!! I'm trying here, people. If you don't think we're alive, check out daynaphoto.blogspot.com and place your vote for your favorite photo every single week. That's right. Conor and I have a little bit of a competition going on and I'm 2 for 2 so far. Do it now; vote for your favorite, add a comment and send the link to everyone you know and their dog! ; )

We just booked our 1st Houston Wedding and are pretty excited about that!!! Experienced our first ever bridal show last weekend, at the George R. Brown Convention Center, in downtown Houston. Overall, we felt the show went very well and our booth looked great, even if it was small. I was relieved to find we were the only ones with a metal mural at the show and it attracted the attention of other vendors. The Jones Sodas had photos I took and were also a fantastic attention grabber. With nearly 5,000 brides and 50-60 other photographers at the show, we had stiff competition.

My sister, Malia, flew down from Utah and agreed to be my slave for an entire week. It was much appreciated and needed. Conor and I are very grateful to her for all her help and hard work. Plus, the house was in need of some TLC and decorating. We accomplished a lot and got a jump start on the rest of the house. We took a carload of stuff to goodwill (one of many, many trips I have already taken to get rid of things that we don't have room for), weeded in midday (I hear it cleans out your pores), tried on vintage hats at resale shops a few blocks away, took 3 trips to Hobby Lobby, and got loads of HGTV at night. It wasn't a "fun" trip for her, but it was fun to have her here and next time I won't make her work for her food.

Conor and I have set appointments to start taking photos, meet with prospective brides, and gearing up for our 2nd Bridal Show, Houston Wedding Showcase, August 29th!

Conor and I after setup on Friday.

Final touches for first day of show! : )

Malia in her element at Sam's Club. She was lost in Houston, so I took her there to feel at home.

Malia & I having fun at young women's activity at church. Mom--the feather game was a real hit!!! Thanks!

And I would like to dedicate this one to Dr. Huffaker. We really are two sweet girls!

This one is for Aunt Mary

2009-06-20T13:54:00.005-05:00

So, one of our most dedicated (and therefore most disappointed) blog fan's is my aunt Mary. But, because of her loyalty and the content of this post, this one is for her!!

Well, with Dayna out of town most of this week and my cousin Josh having a baby (well, Josh's wife), I took the time to go up and visit the proud new parents of Jackson Chase. So aunt Mary, our family's newest grandma, here are some pictures of your new grandchild, available for your viewing pleasure. ***Note--somehow the photos disappeared from Flickr, so I removed the empty white boxes below.

Seoul Searching

2009-02-22T17:55:00.011-06:00

Well we all know who contributes the most to this blog. But it is CONOR and Dayna's World, after all. I am second on the list and chain of command, so I don't feel the need to log my every move and daily event. We don't have kids, pets or even our own home at this point. I had to part with most of my "babies" and gave up my beautiful indoor trees and plants--except for two I talked Conor into keeping. Unfortunately I feel the need to defend myself and why I haven't added anything to the blog. I was just slightly busy the past few months preparing the house to sell, painting, hardware, curtains, and decluttering and selling items on ksl. Just about everything except the kitchen sink went--including my car and old wedding ring! We're staying with my parents in Kaysville, UT until we're able to move into our home in Houston. We anticipate that to be the middle of March, but could be longer. Conor has finished working offshore and will begin his new job in Houston in a little over a week. I have had time to spend with my family and friends and I'm trying to take advantage of that while I can. Since I have some free time, I decided it was time to get around to the blog.

Last fall, Conor and I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Asia. His sister, Brenna, was a LDS missionary serving in Tokyo, Japan. We took 16 days to travel South Korea and Japan. Two days were killed with plane travel, but the other 14 were a whirlwind of excitement, culture, exploring, fun and photos! (Partly why I procrastinated doing this little project was the 1000+ photos from our little camera alone. Overwhelming when I like all the photos and find them interesting!) Since I didn't take the best records, I may have to update this with the real names and places when I find them. But this first slideshow is all of Seoul, South Korea. A massive city, that happened to have two hotels in a close vicinity with the same name. (The one our cab driver dropped us off at was NOT ours.) We made it there and crashed at 9:00 pm--only to awake at 3:00 am for the next several mornings. Subway system was easy to use and we had fun traveling together. Large, but extremely clean city. Here we ate pretty good--our first meals of the day were provided by hotel and was tasty and recognizable for the most part. (Next time I am ignoring Conor and taking my own stash of granola bars and treats.) Enjoy the first leg of the trip: Seoul!

P.S. Having technical difficulties with slideshow. Please be patient!!! : ) For now just click on 'view all images' below to see photos from Seoul.

EXTRA MEAT!!!!

2009-01-29T08:50:00.002-06:00

While getting something to eat at one of Utah's finest dinning establishments, I stumbled upon one of the worst business practices I have seen here in Utah. Unfortunately for me, when I stumbled, I landed face first in it.

Dayna and I have launched this initiative to consume less food. One of the ways we (more me than her) control our intake is through sharing meals when we eat out. But the problem when we would split that delicious Pork Barboacoa Salad at Cafe Rio is we were always arguing the other person ate too much meat. The problem was easily solved by us eating one salad and an order of extra meat.

I don't ever recall the embarrassment inflicted upon you when you order extra meat until the other night. I simply requested extra meat on the pork salad. I figured they would just heap on more pork, I would pay my few extra bucks and we would both move on with our lives. But no, just as the guy blobs on that extra portion of meat, he screams, "EXTRA MEAT!!!" Which in turn, the 20 people working behind the counter all scream, "EXTRA MEAT!!!" I was left standing there, embarrassed, feeling as if everyone in the restaurant was judging me, wanting to explain that I am going to share the salad with my wife and unconvincingly trying to suck my gut in.

I don't get this outrageous practice. I understand at Cold Stone where everyone screams and sings, ringing bells just for tipping the pimpled faced teenager behind the counter a buck. You are being singled out, but for your generosity, not the amount of food you plan to consume. Who would judge you for giving a minimum wage employee a dollar?? But Cafe Rio doesn't do this, they want you to spend more money (not going directly to the broken English speaking employee, but to the company) and single you out as the fat guy in line.

Will there ever be a day when you can order extra meat at Cafe Rio and not be singled out as the fat guy?? This isn't New York for crying out loud.

Ponderosa

2009-01-17T15:29:00.003-06:00

So...cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We haven't been the best at updating our blog. While I have to take some blame for our lack of posts, I am going to pass the brunt of the blame to my lovely, beautiful wife. I will give you a quick synopsis, but you will have to get the details and the pictures from her. In fact, in our last family meeting, Dayna was voted the family historian and the chief financial officer (CFO). Her career has really skyrocketed and the glass ceiling is nowhere in sight!!! It's just unfortunate for her that the CEO (me) gets 2 votes at every meeting, compared to all other individuals getting 1 vote (regardless of the number of positions held within the family/corporation). She has thought, pondered and schemed many ways to throw a coup, but it is all wasted time she could be fulfilling her historian duties documenting our lives on this blog. Her only way out of this conundrum is to add individuals to the corporation...

Nonetheless, I have digressed. Here are a few exciting/maybe-not-so-exciting things we have done since our last post months ago. We took a road trip down the Oregon coast to the Redwoods in California (PS, California has just taught us all an important lesson about lending the government money). We went to the motherland (Korea). We went to Japan. I went back to Canada (it was cold). I have gained 40 pounds in one year. We went to Iowa for New Years and exciting Jasper, IN after that.

The pretty much us up to the topic of this post. We have sold our house in Magna. I can't say too much about the sale itself and still keep this blog kid friendly. So...that is that. But, we also bought a beautiful home in Houston. I just named him Lucien. So, the one pic in this post, is a picture of Lucien.

We are looking forward to the move, which begins in about 2 weeks. Ta-ta Magna, hello Houston!!!

And the winner is....

2008-10-06T18:52:00.003-05:00

HOUSTON!!! Dayna and I had been undergoing some nail biting suspense. We knew there was an impending relocation lurking in our future, but we did not know where or when. We got the news last week and I got the job I wanted, doing completions engineering project support for my company. This job should allow both Dayna and I to travel the world a little more before we really settle down.

March 2009, maybe a bit earlier, we will be living in Houston, TX. We are both excited and I am grateful for Dayna's willingness to explore this world with me!!

Birthday Boys!!!

2008-09-28T02:14:00.004-05:00

I am so happy and loving married life!!! Conor is the best and I love him to death! It's hard to be apart, but we make the most of our time together and are trying to see as much as possible while we're young and free!!! I keep myself occupied while he's away and am always busy. One of my goals I accomplished earlier today was checking off my list of 'Things to Superglue'--it's not a joke. Another goal was making a post with photos to our blog! My main focus now is my photography business--namely my website.

Here's a slideshow of pics from Ryker's 1st and Shane's 30+2 Birthday Bash in Logan at Bo & Malia's house last Saturday. We know how to party and put down the sugar!!!

CSM career day

2008-09-16T20:46:00.002-05:00

Well, once again this year I got the opportunity to return to CSM (my college) to try and recruit new students to come and work for chevron. That was all fun, but Dayna and I also took a four state road trip afterwards. We tried to make the ascent to the top of Long's peak, but we called it quits at the keyhole. Words of a hiker who was on his way down when we met him at the boulder field, "there are some moves you have to make that if you don't, you're dead." So, I really like living and so does Dayna, so we will live with the ascent to the keyhole at approximately 13,250'. Not quite 14,000', but enough to make a note of it on our blog. Oh, the sunrise was spectacular on the way up!! We were between cloud layers...amazing.

We then went to New Mexico where we bought 60 pounds of hatch green chilies. They are amazing. Although, we never really got them cooled down until a couple of days ago, so they are a little over cooked...but still taste fine. From there, we drove to the four corners area and down to Canyon de Chelly.

We spent the night at Canyon de Chelly and then headed off to Moab for a couple of nights. We went around arches NP and made it to delicate arch for sunset, where we showed off our awesome hats we got in Canada. C'est tout!

1 month and 100 caches!!

2008-09-06T16:59:00.003-05:00

So, it's not 100 caches in a month. It's 1 month of marital bliss and 100 caches Dayna and I have found. Two such great things, all happening on the same day...sigh. But, the cache we did was a special one, so bonus points for anyone who can tell from the pictures where it was.

Canadian Dreamland

2008-08-22T00:29:00.005-05:00

So, it's not exactly a dreamland...the food is too expensive for it to be that. And the taxes a bit too high (a canadian did point out that the healthcare system was an excellent deal because her friends got a full year maternity leave at 80% pay, I won't get into that...). But, it was pretty and we had a great time!! Highlights of the trip include: whitewater rafting down the kickhorse river (class 3-5 rapids), the columbian icefield, geocaching, hiking, lake louise, and an afternoon at the spa. As I usually say, enough blabber and enjoy the pics.

The plunge

2008-08-10T01:25:00.007-05:00

Dayna and I were sitting around this Wednesday wondering what we were going to do to replace our boredom with something exciting. So, during our indolent meditations, I suggested that we go and get married. Dayna said, "I guess I don't really have anything else better to do today, so...you can count me in." So, we jumped in my car and drove up to Logan and got married.

Okay, so it was a little more planned out than that. We got married at the Logan Temple on August 6th, 2008. What a glorious day!! So, we are hitched. We had a dinner that followed our wedding on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, we had a reception. We were a little worried about the weather being a bit too warm, but it was really nice. It was a little warm for my cool Minnesota blood, but still manageable. We would like to thank Aaron for ordering the weather for us.

Enough writing, more of what you all want to see...pictures!!!

PS. Nic, Aaron and Alexis...we have the pictures of you decorating our car. We look forward to your weddings...

East Canyon

2008-07-24T11:18:00.005-05:00

Dayna and I went and spent last Saturday with her family up at East Canyon. I was relatively cool...figuratively and literally. I'll just go over the highlights:

Swimming (as you can see, Elizabeth was really excited to go, she even got her goggles on early in preparation
Napping, one of my favorites
Geocaching

For those of you who don't know what geocaching is, it is like a continual treasure hunt. You go on line and get GPS coordinates for caches people have hidden and then you go find them. Usually swapping trinkets and what not that you bring for ones found in the cache. It is like this whole underground society. It is so much fun. Dayna's family kind of got me hooked.

Oh, and we ate a lot!! Bonus.

ROADTRIP!!!

2008-06-28T00:52:00.015-05:00

Dayna and I took our first official roadtrip together. And we got to go to some of the bestest places in the world--Iowa and Minnesota. And oh, South Dakota.

We started out by going to Iowa, where Dayna was able to meet my extended family. I must say, Dayna handled herself pretty well, as all my family loved her. While en route to Iowa, we made a few "okay" stops in Nebraska. We stopped in Sidney, NE at the Cabela's...Dayna's dad said it was the mother ship of Cabela's or something. We also stopped at one of the original Pony Express stations. Both were somewhat mildly amusing, but were really exciting compared to other tourist attractions in Nebraska. Our last stop in the Cornhusker state was Winter Quarters, where we looked at the outside of the temple and watched a little movie at the visitor's center.

We finally made it to Iowa later that night and my parents arrived shortly after Dayna and me with Tasty Tacos in hand. We stuffed our mouths with tacos and visited with family. And that last statement pretty much sums up our Iowa stay. After my parents left, Dayna and I did manage to visit one of the infamous "bridges of Madison county," where we played with the camera a bit.

We then headed off to Minnesota, where I lived 10 years of my life. We stayed with my friend Patricia and her parents, Michael and Monica. They were very generous to let us stay with them for so long. They live about half a block from where I lived in Minnesota, so Dayna was able to see the old Ponderosa. And since St. Paul is only about 20 minutes from Wisconsin, we took half a day to cross the St. Croix and see the highly boring Wisconsin--we went to a cheese factory.

We wrapped up the Minnesota leg of our trip by visiting with old friends and just looking around exploring. We decided to drive back to Utah through South Dakota. Mainly for Wall Drug, but we also stopped at the corn palace and Mt. Rushmore. Ok, we actually drove through SD for Mt Rushmore and the other two destinations were small bonuses.

We left Mt Rushmore at 10 pm and drove in to SLC. Dayna slept and Conor drove...actually, Dayna helped out quite a bit once the sun came up. I hope you all enjoy the pics!

We are BORING!!

2008-06-12T17:31:00.002-05:00

I'm sick of answering the question, "when are you guys going to make another post?" Well quite frankly the answer is, "we are boring." You see, Dayna and I don't do anything. We didn't go to Arizona in April for a week, Dayna didn't come down to the "dirty south" for 2 weeks in May and tour around New Orleans and Texas, we haven't done anything. At least, I can't prove that any of these things happened, because I don't have any pictures to prove it. And hypothetically speaking, if any of the aforementioned events did occur, you know we would have pictures because that is just what Dayna does. So, when you ask, "why are there no new posts on Conor and Dayna's blog?" The answer is simple, we are two very boring individuals OR Dayna has all the pictures and won't do a post or send the pictures to me so I can update the blog.

Engagement

2008-04-19T02:13:00.007-05:00

So I am seriously the happiest girl in the world!!!!! I love Conor so much and have never been happier! It's true! Don't let him fool you, he's totally smitten with me, too! Nothing spells true love like someone sharing their blog with you. That's when you know it's serious! April 4th he proposed. We were up in Logan and he told me he had a present for me from New Orleans. Upon uncovering numerous cleverly wrapped layers, lay a beautiful wooden treasure box with a folded piece of paper. I was getting geared up for the game or adventure waiting inside. Unfolding the paper, I unveiled a monkey coloring page all colored and the words, "Will you marry me Dayna Sue?" written on it. I started smiling, laughing and said, "YES!!! Of course I'll marry you! I love it! Thank you, I love you!" (Okay, so maybe that's not a direct quote, but it was along those lines. Conor has a better memory. I have selective memory. It's awesome!) This photo was taken at the Logan Temple, shortly after he proposed.)

Ma maman pense...

2008-04-17T11:44:00.002-05:00

Elle pense que moi parle français étais un stage...un stage qui passe. Mais, elle se trompe. Je ne parle pas français bien, mais, j'apprécie parler le français. Aussi, elle va acheter un vacances à tahiti pour moi et ma nouvelle mariée en août, quelle langue est-ce qu'elle pense qu'ils parlent à tahiti??? Elle m'encourage juste.

Pedro, je suis désolé pour toutes les erreurs. Peut-être tu peut m'aider...peut-être.

4 months, 1 post

2008-03-16T08:03:00.000-05:00

Ok, ok. I will admit, I haven't been doing the best job of trying to keep my blog up. But, I have been really busy since I left Thailand. December hit and...well, we all know it is a pretty busy month. For those of you who don't know, I relocated to Salt Lake City. It's like a breath of fresh air to leave New Orleans, literally and figuratively. I'm sure I will have to return in a year or so, but in the meantime, I am going to live it up. I still get to go back from time to time for work. It is a really nice place to visit. I even got to catch a Mardi Gras parade this year.

The first thing I did when I got to SLC is I bought a season pass at Alta. Skiing is so much fun. I only have like 30 ski days so far, and may get in a few more before the season comes to a depressing end. But, what I have is a lot better than sitting around in New Orleans just dreaming of skiing. The season has been amazing, the best ever.

I also made it down to southern Utah to do some camping. It was so much fun. I had a really good time. We went to Canyonlands, the needles part. Which, if I would have paid more attention in my geology classes, I would know a lot more about them. But, they were still cool to look at, even though I couldn't explain in complete detail about how they were formed. Dayna and I were able to also go to Arches National Park. Which was cool, I probably could have done without the wind.

My parents also came to visit me in March. It was cool because we were able to go skiing with each other. My dad was able to give me a few pointers and helped me to take my skiing to the next level. Ummm...wait. That's not what happened. Enjoy the pictures!!

Thailand Pics

2007-11-18T03:42:00.001-06:00

My Sawngthaew to Mae Sariang

Me at Big Buddha Beach-Koh Samui

Base of the Pagoda of Wat U Mong-Chiang Mai

Doi Pui Summit-Chiang Mai

Tiger Temple-Kanchanaburi

Elephant feeding-Kanchanaburi

Floating Market-??? West of Bangkok somewhere

Wat Ji-Mae Sot, Burma in the background

Quick update (especially for overconcerned parental units)

2007-11-16T07:06:00.000-06:00

Ok, real quick. I know I said I would try and update often, but all the places I have been don't let you plug in your camera. I have received some concerned emails, ok, one in particular. Mom, dad, I am ok. I almost wish I wouldn't have gone all that time in France without contacting you. It causes you to over-react now. Uuugggghhhh.

So, after work I went to Kanchanaburi to see a floating market and go pet some tigers (yes I have pictures, look forward to them). Then I went to Mae Sot and Mae Sariang which is along the border with Burma. I didn't cross despite still being sad about not being able to go. It was laid back, nice and mountainous. I then had one of the craziest bus rides of my life. Did you know that Thai drivers are very good? Never before had I ever been on a road in the mountains, during a turn and have a bus, 2 cars and motorcycle in 2 lanes at the same time. Very talented. Of course, my main concern was not to fall out of my seat and eventually out of the door (I thought the extra leg room was a good idea). But, I ended up with me, my luggage and my life in Chiang Mai. I took a Thai cooking class and just kind of went here and there.

I am now in Samui, which is an island. I got in, went and laid on the beach and became bored. So, I am getting certified in scuba diving. So, another thing I am up for if anyone wants to go, just let me know. I fly to Bangkok on Sunday night and then the big 24 hour travel period home the following day. I'll be home in New Orleans at 11:50 pm on Monday, November 19th.

Things I am looking forward to:

Not hitting my head on just about everything
Not having to use a squatter
Being able to flush TP
Not almost killing myself every time I cross the street (Thai's drive on the left)
My big SOFT bed with big SOFT pillows
Hot showers

Mom, dad, I hope this puts your mind at ease.

Bangkok

2007-10-31T04:44:00.000-05:00

My main reason for being here in Bangkok is for work. And work has been a bummer. But today, they provided us with a "fun" day and I elected to go on a city tour. It started with a boat ride, where we rode up the river and through a klong (canal). That was pretty cool. We got to travel in tuk-tuk's to the emperor's palace. I saw the emerald buddha, which was a lot smaller than I expected it to be. But, cool, none the less. I had to kneel so I wouldn't mistakenly point my feet at buddha, which is a sign of disrespect apparently. Brenna, I know how you feel, kneeling is no fun.

After that I went shopping. It is something very new to me, I know. I haven't been in a long time and I kind of went overboard. First, we dropped this lady off at a jewelry shop. I didn't really want anything...but while walking through, they convinced me to get something for my mother, and I did. So mom, happy birthday and merry Christmas. They kept trying to push me to buy more and I kept explaining that I didn't have a girlfriend. The lady said something in Thai to the girl helping her out and then said, "she's married, otherwise you could have her." I guess it isn't too hard to find a girl here in Bangkok. But, I finally made it to the tailor shop. I really only wanted to get some white shirts. But, 9 shirts, 2 pairs of pants and $600 later...well, that sums up what happened to me. I figure I haven't been shopping in over a year and I am getting good quality, tailored clothing, it's ok.

Other things I have learned. Thai people are crazy drivers. Thai food is really good. Go-Go dancers in Thailand are not what I saw on MTV's the Real World Las Vegas. Big cities smell. Fox news is the only channel I like to watch in Thailand. It is really sad to see a 15 year old Thai girl walking around with a 50 year old fat guy. Thai is really hard to speak. As you can see, I have learned a lot.

Me and a guy named Mike in a Tuk-Tuk. I look almost happy.

A little Thai girl paying alms to buddha

The emerald buddha

A roof at the palace. Look at all the porcelain detail

Me with some cheidi

I went to bed on Friday and woke up on Sunday

2007-10-28T00:06:00.000-05:00

So, there are a lot of things that could have happened to create this little situation. One, I could have fallen back into one of my little high school sleeping spells. Two, I could have been abducted by aliens. Three, I was on a flight that crossed the international date line and slept a lot on the flight. I have it narrowed down to either two or three. But, what I do know is, I AM IN THAILAND!!! Woo-woo!!

The flight was long, I think I spent over 24 hours travelling. I am really tired right now, but I only need to stay up for another 8 hours or so. I have some things I need to go do, so that will get me out and about. I decided that I love business class, it's going to be hard to go back to those tiny little seats. They feed you so much on international flights.

So, I will try to update my blog as much as possible. I will try to keep the writing to a minimum, because I know it can be hard to read everything. So, look forward to posts with a lot pictures. I have attached a picture of the airport garden in Singapore and a picture from my hotel room window.

My bed in Bangkok...it's nice they put that flower there

Bangkok from my window

Singapore Airport

Tennessee

2007-10-25T08:18:00.000-05:00

I went to the Smoky Mountains again. I wanted to go in the fall time to see all the leaves change color. While driving up, I was nervous that the leaves wouldn't be changing color because everything was so green going through Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. But, it all worked out, as you can see from the picture above.

We did the same short 17 mile loop that I did in June. It was me, Dave (my roommate), Autumn, Kip and Sarah. It was just so beautiful going through all that. I am continually reminded how much I like to backpack and camp. Dave introduced Autumn and myself to some new camping techniques (see our tent).

It was a great time!! So beautiful, so great.

Utah Bonanza

2007-10-11T11:30:00.000-05:00

After my wild and crazy time in Colorado interviewing people who think they will become the next CEO of Chevron, I headed off to Utah. It was pretty nifty. Elisabeth was there to meet at the airport, and she even had a little sign for me. But there were a ton of military people and two missionaries coming home, so her little sign seemed like a good effort. It's the thought that counts...

I've always had this weird dream of taking a girl to the sizzler. I know, I know. I really know how to treat women. So, Elisabeth was kind enough to help me make that dream come true. It's about what you would expect the sizzler to be...ok. Nothing that I would rant and rave about. Nothing to write home about, but something to write about on a blog that no one really reads.

I got to go to the Salt Lake temple. Don't worry mom, no repeats of the last time we went to the SL temple. I did you proud, and I didn't even bargain with the clothes people to give me a free clothes rental.

Somehow we ended up playing Rummikub at Alicia's. Elisabeth and Alicia wouldn't let me read the rules, but if they have ever played games with the Carroll family, they would understand my want to know and read the rules. Simply put, if you need to ask the Carroll's how to play, you're going to loose. So, we ended up playing some cheesy, unsanctioned, non-rule abiding way. And I dominated!!! I rule!!

The next day was conference, and it was pretty nifty also. We got these "way" embarrassing pictrures of Alicia trying to scalp a ticket. I posted my favorite picture of her. Elle a eu un probleme avec sa parapluie. How embarrassing!! But, it was all good. Alicia got her ticket, we all got to sit together and we had a splendid time.

I'm tired of writing, so here is the rest of the trip in a nutshell. We ate after the Saturday afternoon session and the Lion's House, delicious. I went to the preisthood session at the conference center. Elisabeth bought more clothes in a two day span than I have in the last 3 years. Elisabeth and I watched the Ultimate Gift. We got up the next day, watched general conference and I flew to Houston. Ta-dah!! C'est tout.

Home Sweet Home!!! Part Deux...

2007-10-04T19:34:00.000-05:00

I always say that my heart resides in Colorado. And it does. I am fortunate enough to have my company send me back to my alma matter twice a year. There is nothing like traveling on the company--well, sometimes, it can get really old (I'm pretty much 2 weeks on the road today, with one more to go!!). But, this was the second of my two trips this year and we did interviews with prospective hirees (I don't know if that is a word, but if it isn't, it should be).
A little bit about my school. It is called the Colorado School of Mines (not mimes or minds). It is only the best school on the face of the earth. It is located in the best place in the whole wide world...Colorado!! And yes, the mascot is a donkey. They can be really intimidating.

But, I pretty much spent most of my time inside looking out at the beautiful weather. It pretty much stunk. Interviewing kids can be really fun...unless they are an international PhD student who is pretty much fresh off the boat trying to explain some technical thing I don't understand because A) I'm not a big technical nerd and B) their accent creates a huge language barrier. We finished with all the interviews on Wednesday. Today we spent half the day complaining about how much the hiring system stinks and how we could save the world if they would just let us run things. The other half of the day I took a walk up to castle rock. Look for the pictures of castle rock and pictures from castle rock below. It was nice to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather.

It's off to Utah tomorrow to see Elisabeth and conference. Then I leave for Houston Sunday for some more boring work stuff. I may make it home sometime.

Home Sweet Home!!!

2007-09-17T13:06:00.000-05:00

So, my mom is always saying, "Why don't you come see us? What are you doing with all your time off?" Blah, Blah, Blah. So, I feel pseudo-moderately guilty for having all this time off and not making a trip back to my home state. And with the rental car that was given to me because of my car accident I said to myself, "Self, let's go Iowa!" There is nothing like being reminded how much you hate to drive, especially by yourself.

But, it was relaxing to stay at my parents "mini-mansion." It's a lot different than NOLA, I will give them that. And the break in heat was just what I needed. Have I ever mentioned that I don't like it hot?? I guess it has something to do with growing up in Minnesota most of my life.

I hung out in the middle of nowhere (where my parents literally live) and that was nice, for awhile. I learned a lot about Britney Spears by watching E!. Such an interesting life. Anywho, the picture of the deer is from my parents back deck looking over their backyard. Pretty nifty huh?

I also decided that since I was so close to Minnesota and didn't really have anything to do, that I wanted to go. It was nice to be back and see how much the city has changed. It isn't really the small city that I grew up in. But, I met up with my old childhood friend, Trish, who lived a block away and was the coolest kid in the neighborhood (they had a swimming pool). We went and saw the bridge and found this nifty little arcade game in the place where we ate.

My mom (she's so short!!) and I then went to the temple. I had never been there, so that was pretty interesting. They took away the hill by the Stake center that I used to run wild on. So sad!! I guess having the temple is better than having the hill. I also got to see my piano teacher, but she didn't really remember me--which is probably a good thing because I'm not really a good example of what 8 years of piano lessons should be.

The drive home was lame.

Accident

2007-08-16T09:12:00.001-05:00

So, I can't say I'm not surprised, but I was hopeful that I could bide my time in New Orleans and not be involved in a "motor vehicle incident" (that's what Chevron calls them). I call it what it is, an accident. I'm not at fault...but it is still a PAIN in my butt. I'll let the pictures do the talking, but I feel sorry for my poor little car, la bala de plata (that's "the silver bullet" for those of you who, like myself, don't speak Spanish). Oh, and there were no injuries, so I'm alright too. Worry more about my car than me.

RAGBRAI XXXV

2007-08-06T13:44:00.001-05:00

WARNING!!! The following contains graphic pictures of people of all shapes and sizes in spandex. Proceed at your own will.

I remember oh so well the first year of RAGBRAI. I was 11 and riding a bike 500 miles across the state of Iowa. For those of you who think Iowa is flat, I would suggest riding a bike across it and then giving your opinion of it's topography.

So, some of the legacy members of Team Blarney (our biking team) rode this year--Pat and Dave Schulte, JoEllen, mom, dad and myself. Lance Armstrong also rode this year, but he's not fast enough to join our team.

I had a special request from my sister to eat the following in honor of her: a porkchop, a smoothie and homemade ice cream. Check, check and check. I was kind of glad that I went this year because it was Mr. Porkchop's last year (I got a picture with him thank goodness).

As usual, we met some amazing people. We are impressed year after year, as people we have never met allow us to stay with them in their home. And we got to see some of the beautiful scenery Iowa has to offer. "Is this heaven?" "No this is Iowa." Name that movie!! Well, a picture below should give you a bit of a hint.

My lack of training did prove to be a bit of a problem, I was glad to see Saturday and to finally finish. Let's just say...I was sore. Enjoy the photo's (as much as you can)!!

YSA, Florida and a Lavalava. 2007.

2007-08-06T12:42:00.000-05:00

After last year's huge ordeal with the YSA conference and swearing them off for the rest of my life, I went to another one. Something about Florida...it's this state and it is known for it's beaches and...well, I don't want to spoil the surprise for those of you who haven't been. Oddly enough, we didn't spend a lot of time at the beach, and by that, I mean no time at all.

The conference was held at this adventure camp by Pensacola. To be honest, I knew there wouldn't be much beach time, but the idea of an adventure camp and tubing did sound enticing. I won't bore you with the details and there are no real exciting stories to tell like the "Gold Digger" and "Creed air guitar" incidents of yesteryear.

Peter had just returned from Hawaii. And he came hailing gifts of lavalavas. If you don't know what a lavalava is, see the picture above. I guess there is a first time for everything.

New Orleans Bonanza

2007-06-13T12:40:00.000-05:00

Okay, so Bonanza implies a wild and crazy time. Which it was, just don't think I did anything too wild. My two friends, Emily and Chera, drove in from Houston to have a "wild and crazy" time here in NOLA. Emily is leaving for her mission to Chile in a week or so--she will be missed.

Emily and Chera got in late Friday night. We went to Port of Call on Esplande in the Quarter to get a hamburger. It was delicious, as usual. I'm just waiting for Port of Call to offer french fries instead of a baked potato. By the time we got done eating, it was pretty late. I gave them a quick car tour through the Marigny and showed them were I used to live in the big green house.

The next morning we got up and went to Oak Alley plantation. I had never been to a plantation, and neither had they. My NOLA friend Kip joined us for the day. The plantation was way cool. I can't believe they lived in this weather without air conditioning. Oh, I overheard a conversation in French, un bain pour moin (one bath per month), pretty gross huh? This particular plantation is known for it's big row of 28 oak trees that are almost 600 years old, hence the name, Oak Alley.

We then went to eat at Cheesecake Bistro. Chera doesn't like seafood, but she vowed to give it a try. So, she got a healthy dose of crawfish (the tails, not actually eating them from their shell). It was delicious, as usual; and Chera liked the crawfish. But, I decided never to get anything else there but their crawfish ravioli.

We returned to my house in Algiers Point and rode the ferry across to the French Quarter. Of course, Emily and Chera had to get their picture taken under a Bourbon street sign. And we just walked around, looked at the famous sites and ate beignets (the powdered sugar all over my face). That pretty much took us to the end of the day and we were all pretty pooped. But, we managed to find the energy (and space in our tummies) for a snoball!!

The Smoky Mountains

2007-06-13T12:02:00.000-05:00

Some friends and I went camping in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tenneessee and North Carolina. It was so pretty there and I really enjoyed getting out of New Orleans to enjoy a little bit of fresh air. As you can see, it was really green. All the coverage got really annoying for me bacause I knew we were climbing up and down mountains, but you couldn't look out over the ranges. There was finally some relief towards the end of the three day hike.

There was a little bit of everything--waterfalls, streams, greeness. I guess that isn't everything, but what the mountains had to offer was nice. All my hiking experience has been in a desert environment from when I lived in Arizona (and that one time I almost died in Utah), so the change to a cooler, more green eco-system was a nice change of pace, especially in June.

I went with my friend Autumn and her two friends, Ben and Katherine. Sometimes it is very difficult to get along with Texas A&M alumni. These three weren't that bad, it could have been worse. They mainly just wore their A&M apparel, sometimes they would drop an arrogant "why Texas A&M is the best" comment, but I have heard those so much at work, I have stopped acknowledging them. In case you were wondering, Texas A&M isn't the best (I have proof).

Enjoy the photos. I hope to be able to return sometime this fall when all the leaves change color and do another hike!!