Happy birthday, Sister!

My first REAL memory is the day that my parents brought my sister home from the hospital. Maybe because it was traumatic and exciting and life changing all at the same time, but never the less - I really do think it was my first memory, ever.
I was 2 years 9 months old. I didn't really know what in the world was going on. Both sets of my grandparents (and I'm sure there were others, but that is all I remember) were at our house. I was standing by one of the blue wing-back chairs as I watched the old tan Buick (with a navy top) slowly pull in to the driveway from the window closest to the garage. Grandfather was standing next to me. I want to say that I was wearing a smocked white dress, but that may be false. (But we did have lots of those dresses.) Everyone was so super excited, but I still don't think that I really understood what everyone was so excited about. After that, the memory picks up sometime later that day when I was apparently annoyed that everyone was paying so much attention to the little one. I was found, hiding in my closet, by Grandfather, who picked me up and took me in the den where people still oohhing and ahhhing over her, of course. Grandfather probably then gave me a very convincing speech about how she was going to be a fun sister (little did I know that you can't really play with them right away - ugh) and that I would be the big sister that would help Mom and Dad.
Well, of course, Grandfather (and everyone else that talked to me about being a sister) was right. It has been an absolute BLAST having a SISTER. Probably one of the best things ever. I always had someone to play with, someone to trade food with when Mom and Dad weren't paying attention, someone to spy with, someone to sing with, someone to torment me, someone to talk to, someone to share clothes with, someone to endure long torturous road trips with, someone to enjoy Texas A&M with, someone to have a beer with (I like beer, too!), someone to vacation with, some to share tragedy with, someone who was also forced to wear sister outfits, someone to watch The Sound of Music over and over with and someone to love.
I love you, MA!
And now, for some pictures of cute little baby, Mary Alice.

This was the first sister Christmas card picture. MA's first Christmas, 1984. She used to always say that I was squeezing her in this pic, but clearly, I wasn't.

This is a mad Mary Alice in the chair in Meemaw and Grandfather's kitchen in Odessa. Notice the AWESOME wall paper. And the tiny screaming baby. This would have been her first trip to Odessa. Later in life, we would learn how to play jacks in that exact spot on the kitchen floor.

Looks like the same Christmas trip to Odessa. This is Meemaw (Mom's mom, Mary Jane) holding Desha and MA. I love Desha's face in this pic. And look! MA isn't crying!! :) She was sooo tiny!

Here is Mary Alice in what I would like to call her own personal torture chamber. She HATED car seats. Passionately. I'm also totally amazed that she isn't crying in this picture. Maybe because she knew that she was about to be freed. Mom says that on one car trip I couldn't entertain MA enough to get her to stop crying (Mom was driving), so I told mom to pull over and let me drive so that she could try to get MA to stop. :) Good big sister - that was no where NEAR big enough to reach the pedals.

Mary Alice, Aunt Thera and Papa in Grandma and Papa's entry hall. I don't really know much about when this was taken. If I had to guess,  I would say MA's christening or Easter. MA was the baby on both sides of the family! Youngest of 8 grandkids on Dad's side, and youngest of 4 grandkids on Mom's side.

A pouty MA hiding in the corner at Grandma and Papa's. Behind the china cabinet/hutch in the dining room. 

Cute outfit, MA! Standing in the doorway from the dining room to the kitchen at Grandma and Papa's house. I especially love the red tights and shoes. She looks so darn cute!

Bath pic! Had to do it. We learned the flags of the world with that shower curtain. :)

Reindeer MAW. With a cool sweater with matching leg warmers. I had a similar outfit, as well. :)

MA loved magic. This was her magic-themed birthday party (I think.)

MA's COOL soccer ball cake in Austin. She was a soccer stud. And made us all sit through many a torturous cold Panhandle soccer game.

I could go on and on with pictures, but I will leave it at that. (You can see a bazillion on FB.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SISTER! I love you!

Me ke aloha, 

RAWE

Sports-filled, Action-packed Weekend! (Oct. 8-9)

I wrote this a long time ago and forgot to post it. :( Boooo. But, here it is for your reading pleasure, anyways!

Weekend before last (Oct. 8-9) we made the trip up to Dallas with the pups. Friday night we ate dinner with Z's parents and some other Allen FUMC folks, and walked across the street to the Allen High School football stadium for their homecoming game. Allen's stadium was bigger than Pampa's (of course), but not as overwhelming as I thought it might be. The band, cheerleading squad, Tallenettes (dancers), football team and other student organizations WERE huge, though! Allen won the game, and we had a great time!
Saturday we got up, had breakfast with Steve and Kay, and headed to Cowboys Stadium (aka Jerry World aka the Death Star) in time to see the corps march. Of course we picked the one lot where the corps was forming, so they wouldn't let us in to park. Finally, after some frustration, they let us in the lot, and we got to catch the end of the parade and saw Zac's outfit (that he was in and now advises), K-2. We then walked over to one of the Rangers' parking lots to see Z's friend Heath who was tailgating for the Rangers game.
Then we talked back over to the stadium to see Z's cousin Kim and her husband Jason. Later we met my friend AJ at the entrance to get our tickets and join our group to watch the game. AJ is from Pampa and GENEROUSLY offered for us to sit with him and his friends in their family's box in the Ring of Honor. And let me tell you, the suite was amazing! We were up high enough to see the entire field - on the 45ish yardline - and didn't have to look up and strain our necks to see the massive jumbotron. We also had food, drinks and our own bathroom! (It's the little things.) :) Thank you, AJ, for letting us join you for the game! Sadly, the Aggies lost to Arkansas, but it really was a good game with great people. After the game we drove to Carrollton for dinner with Z's grandparents. We had a great time catching up and relaxing with them.
Sunday, after breakfast with Z's parents, we drove down to Fair Park for the State Fair of Texas! This was my second visit to the fair. The first time was on a date with Z. :) We met Mandy and Meranda (her first time to the fair!) There were SO many people - crazy crowds, lines, etc. We all learned that we should try our hardest to never visit the fair on a weekend again. From now on, we would like to try for weekday evenings. We did enjoy some fried tornado taters, corny dog and Z had a turkey leg. Teal, Beth and Kate also came to the fair later that afternoon, and we tasted some wine and talked for a little while. We had a great time at the fair, and definitely learned a lot of things NOT to do the next time! ;)
Afterwards we stopped at Northpark Center to look for a dress for the two formals I have coming up this fall. LUCKILY, I found one - the first and only one I tried on! Hooray!! You will see pictures of it after the Navy/Marine Corps Birthday Ball (Oct. 22nd) and the Junior League Charity Ball (Nov. 13th.)
And that, my friends, is our weekend wrap-up!
Me ke aloha,
RAWE

Halloweens of Yore

Let's discuss Halloween. I'm not a big fan. Never have been. I feel like I've gotten better over the years, but I still don't really like it. I'm a scaredy cat, and I don't like being scared. I don't like going to haunted houses, corn mazes or scary movies. I just don't like scary anything. :) I remember being scared as a kid and having to trick-or-treat in the dark with weird people out and about. A couple of years I even stayed home with mom and just passed out candy. This week I thought it would be fun to show you some old Halloween pictures. (Thanks, Mom, for sending them.) It also didn't surprise me that when she sent them, there were more pictures of my sister than of me. :) I'll try to go in chronological order, if possible.

Here I am as a Popple (awesome) and this is Patrick (friend/neighbor) as Raggedy Andy and Mary Alice as Raggedy Ann. Mary Alice's "costume" is really the clothing off of one of our dolls. This was on the Dunigan's front porch.

Here is Mary Alice in an old dance costume. I don't think that this was one of my many dance costumes. Funny thing is, MA never did take dance. You can tell by her horrible turn out. (just kidding!)

Now this looks like fun! I have a feeling we may have been about to bob for apples or something. This was our backyard. Participants: Cowboy, Bill Campbell; Clown, me; next unidentifiable object, Patrick Dunigan; Little white bunny, Mary Alice; Halloween ghost, Claire Hampton and another Raggedy Ann, Lee Carmichael (which makes me laugh a little since her sister's name is Ann!) I remember my clown costume (I don't really like clowns, either), and I liked it because I got to paint my own face.

 Clown and bunny part two. :)

Mary Alice continuing her animal theme, as a duck. With her cool fiber optic light wand. Those are still cool. I question WHY a duck has a painted face. Strange.

Carving pumpkins where we always carved pumpkins - in the kitchen floor. Why we were wearing matching night gowns and robes, you ask? I have no idea. But aren't we cute? MA, you can thank Mom for selecting this gem of a picture.

This image isn't great, but there are four things I wanted to point out. 1. Mary Alice's cool magician costume. She loved magic tricks. Secretly I think she just liked knowing how tricks worked when other people didn't know. 2. Mary Alice's cool candy collecting pail. That was from McDonald's. I remember begging for Happy Meals that were served to us in these classic pails. Some years, they even had some that glowed in the dark! 3. I'm not really wearing a costume. I probably didn't want to, but still needed to wear at least something that was semi-festive in order to trick-or-treat. 4. Over MA's right shoulder is a pumpkin. I think that was MA's pumpkin for the Austin Elementary Carnival, but it was really good, now that I look back on it. It was Raider Red, one of texas tech's mascots. Dad probably forced her to make that, but it really was pretty good now that I look at it. :)

Imagine scary slasher stabbing music as you view this picture. SCARY, isn't it!? MA with a knife. She could've kept that bow and worn it nowadays. (WHY are bows on girls too old to wear them popular right now? WHY?)

MA has a spoon this time. Muuuccch better. :) And I'm wearing my favorite Pampa Taz sweatshirt. Also funny to me that MA has a cheerleader on her shirt.

This is the last one that mom sent. This had to have been when I was in 8th grade - or freshman year of high school (per the hair). We both had bangs. Wow.
And now to some more recent Halloweens.

A Halloween in college. Beth was a goddess (I think), I was Marilyn Monroe and Mandy was an ice princess. If I remember correctly, Beth and Mandy made their costumes earlier that do. Good job, ladies!

This was my Marilyn standing over the grate pose. Pretty good, eh?

I think that this was my favorite Halloween costume ever. Judy Jetson. And Beth was Jane, my mom! Such a fun night and party.

This was Halloween in HI last year at Steve and Marisol's house. We were recycling those costumes (we used them the year before at Steve and Marisol's other party!), but they still looked good!
This year I am going to be volunteering at the museum for the early evening, and then we will make an appearance at a party. Stay tuned for those pics.
Have a safe and happy Halloween, my friends! And if anyone goes to a haunted house or something near by, ask Zac to join you, because I won't go with him! :)
Me ke aloha,
RAWE

Things I miss about Fall in New Hampshire

With the new "cooler" (aka not 100 degree) temperatures in Texas, I have been thinking about/missing New Hampshire a lot. When you picture a perfect fall, a quintessential fall, you probably picture most of the characteristics of these months in NH.



Among the things I miss most...

Changing leaves that made me wish for a longer commute to/from Lindt every day;

(It really does look like this everywhere!)

Going to the farm down the highway from our house and shopping for pumpkins, mums and cider;

(this is when Becky and Janie came to visit in 2008!)

Dunkin Donuts (and their annoying Rachel Ray commercials);

Coffee from the drive-though coffee shack in Newmarket -- the reason I am now addicted to caffeine;

Walking around downtown Portsmouth with a jacket on;

Red Hook fall brews;

Windows at the house all the way OPEN during the day;

Having a cute fall-y front porch;

Going to scary haunted corn mazes with Steve and Marisol - and their crazy Halloween parties;

Having the actual woods as our backyard;

Spending our first Thanksgiving as a married couple with Navy friends at the Stacks' house;

Showing off the beautiful states of NH and ME;

AND, all of our friends (who are also our family) on the USS Louisville!

Fall just isn't the same in Texas, and might be one of my few complaints about living here again. So, if you are still in NH/ME - or anywhere where there is a real change of season, enjoy the weather, scenery, food and feeling of FALL.

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

Still playing catch-up - but there is some good stuff in here!!

I last left off after Amy and Austin's beautiful wedding in Katy.

The following weekend in July, Zac and I flew up to the Panhandle for my 10 year high school reunion. I am sure that everyone probably says this, but I really couldn't believe that it had been 10 years since I graduated from high school. I was so excited to be able to see my friends from home, and for them to meet Zac. The first event was a cocktail party at the Buzzard's house. The homecoming committee had everything set up beautifully around the pool. Afterwards some of us met at Tyson and Kristen's house to continue the fun (thanks so much guys!!)

So many of my classmates were able to come in to town for the reunion, and we all had a great time catching up with each other. I was also thankful that we had another day's worth of events to spend even more time with my friends. Sat. morning we toured the new addition of the high school, then had a family picnic at Central Park.

That evening we had a dinner and dance at the country club. The weather was rainy that afternoon, but it worked in our favor. We had to eat inside (the Class of 1980 was also having their reunion there), but then we got to go out by the pool for the dance and the rest of the night. And, the weather was nice and cool. After the dance a lot of us went to Cortnie and Trent's house for an after-party (thank you to the Prices for opening their home to so many of us!!), and we all stayed up talking and catching up until 3 a.m. I am thankful for such an amazing group of classmates, and enjoyed every minute of that weekend! Thank you to the homecoming committee who did an absolutely amazing job and worked so hard to plan the weekend's events.

HERE are all of the pictures!
The next weekend Zac and I spent time in Dallas and went to my friend Andrea's 30th birthday party! We had so much fun with Andrea, Justin and some of their friends bowling. Andrea and I worked together at KB in Dallas, and have stayed close ever since. I just wish we would be able to spend more time together. :) I love you, Andrea!

And then.....
Zac went to Austin for his best friend Ted's bachelor party, and I went to Fort Worth to hang out with Mandy, Meranda and Beth. The next weekend we went back to the Metroplex for Zac's 10 year reunion, and the weekend after that we were back again at Cedar Creek Lake with Zac's aunt and uncle. This year they bought a lake house, and we were thankful to get to stay there for the weekend. I went up to Dallas, yet again, for the John Mayer concert Labor Day weekend. :) Unfortunately I did not have Labor Day off, so I came back to CS the next day. :( That was also the first home game, TAMU v. SFA, and Cameron came up from Houston to go to the game with Zac since I was gone. Our friends Eric and Dayna Comley also came down for the game.

Are you excited to be closer to present day? Can you tell that we have been weekend warriors tearing up the highways across the Great State?

That week, plus three extra days, Mom and Dad went to Italy! They had an amazing time seeing the sights with their friends. That weekend we stayed home (yay) and went to the LA Tech game. Mary Alice came with us, and we had a great weekend hanging out. The game was too close for comfort, but we pulled it out in the end.

The next weekend, the 17th - 18th of Sept., we were back in Dallas for Ted and Kimberly Jakus' wedding. The events were all absolutely wonderful, and we are SO excited for the two of them to be married, and look forward to spending many fun times together! I took several pictures from their festivities.

That Sun. I helped host a shower for my friend Kelsey, who is adopting a baby that is due in Nov.! :) :)

The next weekend mom was in Houston for a school board conference, so we met her in Houston for dinner with Mary Alice. That Sat. morning I drove to Fort Worth again for Meranda's first birthday party! I took several pictures at the baby shower and Meranda's party, as well. I can't believe that Miss Meranda is already one year old. She is so precious.

Pausing here. Another post soon to follow. Yes, really.

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

So. Far. Behind.

This is what I just saw when I opened my blog dashboard: "95 Posts, last published on May 3, 2010"
It has been a looooong time since I last blogged, so I will try to catch this up in the next few paragraphs, without weighing the content down with boringness. :)

I last left off complaining about Kona eating one of my favorite shoes. He has since destroyed at least two other shoes (one mine, one Z's), but is slowly getting better about recognizing what is his v. what is ours and shouldn't be chewed on. I would also list more things for you that he has eaten/chewed/destroyed, however, this would be a very long and boring post. He still has a TON of energy, which we try to work out of him on our evening walks with both dogs. Kona also had a little bout with demodectic mites/mange on his nose. This type of mange is passed from mother to puppy within the first week of their lives, but is NOT contagious to other dogs (thank goodness)! He has since fully recovered and doesn't even have a scar on his cute little nose. Aidan is just fine, and loves having another dog to play with all of the time. Aidan is definitely the alpha in the house, and even though he is about seven years older, he can keep up with the pup!

In May we traveled to Italy! We took Kodi, our friends' yellow lab that we had been keeping since January, with us (yes, all the way to Italy) because his family had recently moved there. Kodi's kennel miraculously fit into the luggage loading door on our smaller plane from Houston to DC, and we didn't have any problems at all picking him up from the oversized baggage area in Rome. Melissa, our Navy friend that lived in HI while we did - and Kodi's mom - picked us up from the airport. We stayed with our Navy friends, the Stacks, at their home outside of Naples. They live in Navy housing, and so did Melissa and her family, so it was a convenient location for us to be to see our friends. They took us all over southern Italy - Amalfi Coast, Paestum, Naples - and we saw so many beautiful new places. For two days we took the train up to Cinque Terre, one of the highlights of our trip! One of the most beautiful places in the world, by far. The weekend we were there, I stayed on Ischia with some girlfriends, and the next day Zac and the guys joined us in Capri. We toured the Blue Grotto (click here for video), hiked up a looong trail to the city center (even longer since I was starving), saw a beautiful garden and the sea stacks of Capri. Which I thought was funny, since we were with the STACK family. :) The next day we visited Herculaneum, a community like Pompeii, but smaller and better preserved. On our last day we drove to Paestum, an ancient Graeco-Roman city. We had an absolutely wonderful trip and miss our friends greatly. And we are already ready for another European vacation! For all of the pictures, please click here.

Then came Mandy's birthday. I drove up to Fort Worth, where we went to a concert in the garden. Happy birthday to Mandy!

Then came my cousin Meredith's bachelorette party at Lake LBJ! Fun times in the sun with family.

The next weekend was Amy's bachelorette party in Austin! We took a burlesque dancing class (awesome), and went to dinner and out on west 6th. So much fun. (Pics will be uploaded to Picasa later.)

The next weekend was my cousin Meredith's wedding in Hereford! Zac and I flew up to Amarillo, spent Friday night in Pampa, and went to wedding festivities on Sat. I just love getting to spend time with the Tabor family, and Meredith was an absolutely stunning bride. Yay for more cousins and an expanding fam.

And then...it was July 4th. We didn't do anything exciting. Stayed in CS for a change and watched fireworks at the Bush Library.

The next weekend was our annual girls' float trip! We floated the Comal and let Zac and Josh tag along. I love living close to the river again. :) It makes me happy.

July 17th was Amy's wedding weekend, which was busy busy busy! I was so touched to be chosen as her matron of honor! I arrived that Thurs. night - helped with some last min decorations and favors. Friday was the bridal luncheon and later the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The wedding was at Briscoe Manor in Katy, and it was the perfect venue for Amy and Austin. The rehearsal dinner was at Cadillac Bar, with lots of family, friends, good food and mariachis! Sat. was spent primping before the big event. Everything went perfectly and was absolutely stunning. I took a ton of pictures that can be found HERE. CONGRATULATIONS to Amy and Austin!!

And this is where I will end this crazy long post. :) I will finish the rest of the activities/pictures soon!
I keep thinking of things that I would like to blog about, rather than just what we are doing, so that will begin as soon as I finish getting caught up on the summer.
Me ke aloha,
RAWE

Kona just ate one of my favorite shoes...

Yes, that is correct. Kona, our precious little puppy that can do no wrong just ate one of my FAVORITE RED SHOES. In an attempt to try to cool down (he is outside in solitary confinement - aka - alone), I am making dinner and thought that I would blog. It's times like these that I think that if I found and purchased a pair of shoes that I really liked, I really should have bought two pairs. ARGH! What did they look like? They were what I liked to call my Betty Boop shoes because they reminded me of her. Red, kind of pointy toe, sling backs with a stacked wooden heel and reallllly comfortable. But enough lamenting, I will now write about other, happier things.
It has been over a month since I blogged, which is horrible of me! We had a very busy month, and I'm sure that there are many people who will agree with me when I ask "Where the heck did April go???"
First weekend: Easter.
We had a fun weekend in College Station this Easter. We were blessed to have Zac's grandparents, Ben and Nellie drive in from Temple, as well as Zac's parents, Steve and Kay, come down from Allen. Sat. we saw a few sights in College Station, and Sunday we had a delicious Easter dinner at our house. Our friends Kelsey and Mack also came over to celebrate with us. We all ate a lot and enjoyed one another's company. For pictures, CLICK HERE.
The next day Zac and I attended a corps event, Muster of the Regiment. We dressed up and went to the Hall of Fame for the evening with his outfit. Here is a picture of us there.

That weekend Beth and Kate Lynch stopped by on their way to a wedding in Houston. We had lunch at La Bodega, saw the huge ring at the Association of Former Students, tried the new yogurt place Red Mango and showed Kate our house. That afternoon we took bluebonnet pictures of all of the dogs and took them to the dog park. :)

The next week Zac and I passed out Aggie rings! Zac's boss was kind enough to ask if we were interested in taking part in this special Aggie tradition, and of course we jumped at the chance. We loved seeing all of the excited students, friends and families that were there for the festivities. And wow - Ring Day has really changed since we got our rings. I remember the Association was beginning to have a few extra activities going on outside, like the professional photos, Slovacek sausage being given away and friends would go get their rings all together. Now it seems like families are coming in from all over to be a part of ring day! There are professional photographers at several locations, free sausage (still), music playing, Benjamin Knox signing his art, you get your ring ticket ONLINE, a Yell Practice, refreshments everywhere and much, much more! Ha. It really is a big celebration now, and we were lucky to be able to participate in this semester's Ring Day.

That weekend was the K-2 Reunion. For those of you that don't know, Zac was in the corps of cadets at A&M, and K-2 was his outfit. He is now the military advisor for that outfit. One of Zac's buddies, Cameron, came to the reunion with his wife, Michelle and their cuuuuute baby, Nathan! One of Zac's other buddy's wife, Emily, also drove in with her baby, Rylie. So, I was thoroughly entertained at the bbq. It was fun to see all of them, as well as the current and older guys from K-2. Later that night we saw the Bellamy Brothers at the Hall of Fame. They were great live! 

Later that week was one of my favorite Aggie traditions, Muster. I love that Aggies get together on the same day every year to honor all of the Aggies that have died that year. For more about Muster, read this. Days like that help me to remember why I still think that choosing to go to A&M was one of my best decisions.

That Friday I went with about 30 Aerospace students to Johnson Space Center in Houston. We got a (very) VIP behind-the-scenes tour of all 3 mission control rooms (including the historic moon landing one!), the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, robotics labs, a lunar electric rover (which the students got to drive!) and more. I had never been to NASA before, so I really enjoyed the tour and learned a lot. Afterwards I had organized a reception for work for A&M aerospace majors that now work in that area. Fi even stopped by to see me there (since her flight to Ireland was cancelled due to the volcano)!! After the loooong day at NASA, I met Amy and her fiance, Austin, for dinner. It was great to finally get to spend some quality time with both of them. :) The next day Amy and I ran errands and did some shopping, before getting gussied up for her first wedding shower! Her friend Carla opened her beautiful home to the party crowd, and we had an amazingly fun evening! Here are those fun pics! It was so special to celebrate their upcoming wedding and make some fun memories to have forever.

That was also the Sat. of Zac's grandmother, Betty's, 80th birthday party! I was sad that I wasn't able to join Zac there, but they all said they had a wonderful time. Family flew in from MN and CA and of course drove in from around Texas.

Sunday I met my friends Jamie and Jennifer for lunch on my way back to College Station. It was so fun to catch up with them, and to meet Jamie's precious son, Garrett! He is about 7 or 8 months old right now and super cute! 

Finally, this past weekend my friend Ellen drove down to visit! We had dinner with some mutual friends that live here on Fri. night, then Sat. we went to the quilt store, Wings 'n More for lunch and then just ran around CS shopping and talking. It was so great to be able to have her here for the night/day!

Zac has been so busy finishing projects, studying for finals and working! I know that he will be relieved when the semester is over, as will I! Work has been ridiculously busy lately! 

Hope that all of you out there are doing well, staying healthy and making sure that you stop and smile from time to time.

Me ke aloha,

RAWE