Texas Lou

Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Good morning and welcome to my weekly Thankful Monday post.

Here’s what I’m thankful for today:

1. I’m very grateful that my work is sending me to a 4-day training course covering ASP.NET, web application development, JQuery Mobile, and many other tools and technologies.  Since I have no formal training in web development (everything I know, I taught myself or learned from coworkers), I think this class is going to greatly benefit me!  Thanks to my job for the wonderful opportunity!
2. I’m thankful for good friends!  Over the past week, I was able to spend a lot of time with great friends.  Last Wednesday, I went to the free beer tasting at Market Street Wine Shop with Sarah and my friend Marian who I hadn’t seen in months.  Then Marian, her daughter Katie, and I checked out the new Livery Stable for dinner.  I also got to spend a wonderful evening drinking wine, eating Lindsey’s homemade chili, enjoying music, and watching the sunset at Carter Mountain Orchard‘s Sunset Series.  It was great to hang out with Sarah, Ian, Lindsey, Greg, and their family!  Then Saturday, we got to hang out with my friend Becky and her family at the race we participated in.  To top it all off, we had lunch with Robert and Crystal at Olive Garden on Saturday!  What a wonderful week filled with great friends!
3. I’m thankful that a lot of important people in my life have made it through surgeries safely lately.  My dad and some friends have had recent surgeries and though they are still recovering, I’m very grateful they made it through risky medical procedures and are on the mend.
4. I’m thankful for the opportunity to help raise money for a little girl in need.  Saturday, Ben and I ran the Benefit 5K for Shiloh Thompson.  It was a really fun race with great prizes and they had a skydiver show at the end of the race where we got to watch 3 skydivers jump from a plane and land in the neighborhood where the race took place.  Ben even won 4th place in the race and 1st place in his age group!  Most importantly, it was great to help a little girl in need and her family!
5. Lastly, I’m thankful for a close family.  My brother got to go to Houston for his birthday this weekend and even though I wasn’t there to help him celebrate, I’m very happy that the rest of my family was there to help him enjoy his birthday weekend!

Have a wonderful week!

Good morning and welcome to my weekly Thankful Monday blog post!

Here’s what I’m thankful for today:

1. I’m thankful that I got to watch the Houston Texans game on TV here even if they did lose against the Baltimore Ravens.  Very rarely do they show the Texans games here but since they were playing a team that is based not too far from where I live, the game was shown on CBS.
2. I’m thankful for winning the Big Greasy Office Pool last week!  I’ve played the last two years and never won, but last week, I had the most accurate NFL picks for the week and won a $30 McGrady’s Gift Certificate, a Wild Wolf Brewery Prize Pack, a Gift Pack from Century Link, a $30 University Dive & Hobby Center Gift Card, and 4 passes to the Virginia Chili Brews n’ Brews Festival in Waynesboro!  Sarah, Ben, and I went to the Chili Cookoff/Festival on Saturday and even though it rained, we had a blast and tasted some interesting chili!
3. I’m thankful that my husband is so handy and seems to have fixed our TV!  With everything that we’ve had break in the past couple of months, it’s nice that there is something that seems to have been an easy fix (fingers crossed it is actually fixed and will stay that way)!
4. I’m thankful for the opportunity to start mentoring at Computers 4 Kids again.  I’ve mentored two students in the past and had taken a break during wedding planning and house searching but now I am ready for student number 3!
5. Lastly, I’m thankful for the cooler weather.  Although I’m not crazy about the shorter days and it getting dark earlier, I am loving the cooler weather, especially with two broken AC units!

Have a great week!

Good morning and welcome to my weekly Thankful Monday blog post!

Here’s what I’m thankful for today:

1. I’m thankful for the opportunity to see The Book of Mormon musical with my friends Cris and Carolyn at the Kennedy Center on Friday.  Thanks to all of us working together, the plans for the night turned out great!  I’m cherishing these little trips right now as once I have kids they will be fewer and far between.  The play was hilarious and the Kennedy Center was a beautiful venue!  What a great night!
2. I’m thankful for the generosity from my sister-in-law’s dad.  He was cleaning out a storage unit this weekend and gave us several items that homeowners would need including a shop-vac and a miter saw!  I’m so grateful for his generosity and the future spending he has saved us!
3. I’m thankful for family.  Sunday, we had lunch with my in-laws to celebrate my nephew’s 20th birthday.  It was nice to spend time with the whole family and enjoy my mother-in-law’s awesome lunch, including her famous coconut raspberry cake!  She and I also made bacon wrapped figs using the figs from our fig tree.
4. I’m thankful for the cooler weather we’ve been having.  Our air conditioner has been broken so the cooler weather in August has been a blessing!
5. I’m thankful for a fresh start this Monday!

Have a great week!

Good morning!  I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!  Mine was amazing!

This Monday morning, I’m thankful for the following:

1. I’m thankful for this amazing country that I live in and the sense of pride and hope that is felt on the 4th of July!  I know we all take our freedoms for granted, so I want to remember to be grateful for the freedoms we have living in the United States and for the many men and women who have, will, and continue to fight for our freedoms.
2. I’m thankful for amazing and fun friends!  I had a wonderful girl’s weekend in DC and Baltimore with two of my best friends, Cris and Sarah.  We watched fireworks, did site-seeing, enjoyed delicious food and good beer, met up with lots of other awesome friends, enjoyed live music including a live band, dueling pianos, and an Irish folk group, and we hung out on the boat of a former congressman!  I know there are always adventures to be had when I’m with these amazing ladies!
3. I’m thankful for my mother-in-law who spend much of her weekend helping my husband catch up on weeding and gardening.  When I returned from my trip, things looked quite different and much better than they had when I left.  They weeded, trimmed hedges, and planted things in the sweltering heat and the pouring rain!
4. I’m thankful for a job.  I’m REALLY not liking my job these days and so tempted to apply for new positions elsewhere, but I want to remember to be grateful for a job that pays decently and has  benefits.  Without it, I wouldn’t be able to take trips like I took this weekend or live in a house like I live in.
5. I’m thankful for my mom, the nurse , and technology.  She was able to diagnose a case of poison ivy (my first) via a text message picture and tell me how to start treating it.

Have a wonderful week friends!

There were many surprises that my family and friends planned for me the weekend of my wedding and I hope to eventually showcase all of the amazing surprises that made my heart melt here on the blog.

At my wedding reception, my maid of honor and sister, Carrie, and my matron of honor and cousin Megan, spoke with the DJ while Ben and I were taking post-ceremony pictures.  They asked if he could play “You’re the One That I Want” from the musical Grease, a childhood favorite of ours, on their cue.  I had no clue this was coming and when they were done with their dual speech, they cued the music and asked that all of “Lou’s Ladies” (all of my awesome girlfriends) join them on stage.  They had blue sunglasses for all of the girls to wear and everyone began singing, dancing, and putting on an amazing show for the wedding guests.  They said they had planned to sing to me while I watched, but of course I couldn’t help but join in.

The whole scene which made me so giddy went like this (thanks to Megan’s husband B for filming and posting on YouTube):

I always loved the Chris Brown wedding entrance video that one couple did at their wedding and the spoof of it that the Office did for Pam and Jim‘s wedding and wanted to do something similar and creative like it at our wedding, but couldn’t get introverted Ben to commit to anything and I was honestly out of ideas after all of the wedding planning so this surprise was perfect!  I love my friends and family and will always remember this amazing and very special moment!

Chris Brown Wedding Entrance

Office Spoof from Pam and Jim’s Wedding

Friday afternoon, I met up with my friend/sister-in-law Sarah and my friend Amy to hang out at Fridays After 5.  Sarah and Amy were downtown looking for some last minute items for Amy’s wedding which is in less than two weeks!  I’m so excited for Amy and Joel’s wedding…it’s going to be a blast!

After meeting up with the girls, we stopped by Baggby’s Gourmet Sandwiches and then headed over to the Nook to join Sarah’s parents, Craig and Robin, for some drinks.

The girls and I downtown at Friday’s After Five.

After drinks at the Nook, we headed to the pavilion to watch Mingo Fishtrap play.  I’d never heard of them, but Sarah’s parents were raving about their music.  Plus they are from Austin, so any band from Texas deserves a listen from me.  I really enjoyed their music and they were great at playing several different styles and genres.

Mingo Fishtrap performing at the Charlottesville Pavilion

They even brought their own sign!

Amy and Sarah downtown

After taking the picture above, Sarah and Amy both asked if it was going on the blog.  Well here it is girls!

Ben and I were supposed to get dinner with our friends Cheryl and Dan who sadly moved to Tennessee on Saturday, but their movers came too late and they weren’t finished packing until well after dinner time.  We will miss them, but are planning on a visit soon!

After Fridays After 5, Ben and I randomly headed out to Sarah and Ian’s new house for a fun night with friends.  All in all, it was a perfect start to the weekend!  I hope everyone’s Friday was as fun as mine!

Last night, I went downtown to Fridays After Five, a free concert held at the Charlottesville Pavilion every Friday in the summer time, to meet up with the AMAZING Travis family(Robin, Sterling, and Sarah, my sister-in-law) to see Craig Travis (Sarah’s dad) sing with his former band the Houserockers.

After bumping into some friends and enjoying good conversation while sipping on local Star Hill beer, we went to the front of the pavilion to cheer on the Houserockers and dance and sing along.  The Houserockers put on a wonderful performance and Sarah’s dad is truly talented.

I apologize for the blurriness of these pictures, but we were dancing after all!

Robin, Sterling, and Sarah waiting for Craig’s performance. I love this family!

My sister from another mister and I!

Craig singing front and center.

Go Houserockers!

After the show, Sterling, Sarah, and I stopped off at Miyako for some sushi and edamame.  It was a great way to start the weekend and I’m so glad I FINALLY got to see the Houserockers perform after hearing so many great things about them from the Travis family!

My posts have been few and far between this year, but that’s mostly because I’ve been out experiencing life!  Since one of my goals of writing this blog has been to document all of the new and wonderful experiences I have as I make my way through each day, I figured I should share some of those.

Well in no particular order, here they are:

• Got engaged!
• Test drove new cars
• Bought a new car!
• Bought a wedding dress
• Planned and threw 2 baby showers
• Introduced my dad to my future in-laws
• Became a landlord (i.e., invested in a rental property)
• Successfully competed in Warrior Dash
• Found the only Alamo Drafthouse outside of Texas and watched a double feature
• Drove to New Jersey and back in less than 48 hours
• Saw a production of Disney’s Newsies at the Papermill Playhouse and met the cast at a local diner afterward
• Created a wedding website and registered for wedding gifts
• Got a promotion to Software Engineer II
• Learned how to play the awesome game of Dominion
• Planned a wedding (partially)
• Threw a Silpada party
• Got second place in a Biggest Loser contest at work
• Made a fall wreath
• Became addicted to Pinterest
• Went to Smith Mountain Lake
• Watched an elementary school production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Attended the Top of the Hops Beer Festival, met up with an old college roommate, and met a famous blogger
• Had engagement photos taken by an awesome photographer
• Made my own t-shirts for Shamrockfest 2011, the 2011 Charlottesville Women’s Four Miler, and Breaking Dawn Part 1
• Went to a bridal show
• Participated in Office Olympics
• Got my concealed weapons permit
• Attended Scrum training by one of the inventors of Scrum
• Spent a wonderful long weekend in Disney World with my dad, step-mom, little brothers, and my fiance
• Had an AMAZING girls weekend in the Outer Banks
• Helped plan an engagement brunch for a friend
• Attended the 7th Annual Pink Ribbon Polo Classic at King Family Vineyards and met the owner who attended my alma mater
• Watched the Royal Wedding
• Crowd Surfed during the Dropkick Murphys performance at Shamrockfest
• Saw a real live bear
• Experienced my first earthquake…SCARY

I’m sure there are a ton of things that I’m leaving out and so many pictures and stories to go with all of these experiences, and one day I’ll hopefully get them all up here on the blog.

It’s been an AMAZING year so far and I’m hoping 2012 will be even better!

Hope your 2011 has been as great as mine!

I know I’m a little late on discovering this gem, but this video, created by the Gregory Brothers, is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a long time:

Here is the original newscast the music video was made from: