Texas Lou

Archive for the ‘Pictures’ Category

Charlottesville must have angered the gods because yesterday we had one hell of a storm!

Yesterday, Charlottesville experienced what the meteorology world calls a microburst.  And it was the second microburst experienced by the Charlottesville area in less than three weeks!

I was driving from work to pick up Ben so that we could go to my Team in Training Batesville Store fundraiser.  Ben works in the heart of downtown Charlottesville which was the hardest hit area, so lucky me got caught in the middle of the maelstrom that came out of nowhere.

I was driving and chatting with my brother on the phone when I heard a message from the Emergency Broadcast System come on the radio.  I knew a storm was coming because I saw dark clouds and heard thunder, but I just expected it to be a quick passing summer storm so I didn’t pay too much attention.  Less than two minutes later, rain started pounding, large branches started beating my car, and huge tree limbs were blocking parts of the road.  I barely had time to turn on my windshield wipers when I heard a loud popping noise on my right.  There was a huge burst of flames from a power line in the field next to where I was driving.  I quickly put down the phone (the storm had already ended my call for me) and started to inch my way through torrential downpours, strong winds, and falling trees.

When I was almost to Ben’s office building, I heard another loud popping noise, this time on my left.  This one was even louder and came with a flash of blue light that scared the shit out of me!  I believe it was a transformer blowing.  When I got to Ben’s office parking lot, the storm was starting to die down, but the parking lot was covered in trees and a downed power line.

Ben and I spent the next two hours driving around Charlottesville trying to find a way to Batesville, and then giving up on the fundraiser and trying to get home.  Traffic was terrible because of power outages affecting traffic lights, trees blocking roads and intersections, and power lines down everywhere.  We saw one tree that had a root system at least 10 to 15 feet in diameter that had been uprooted and was leaning against a house.  We saw a light post that had been broken from its pole and was dangling near a power line.  We saw several trees and power line poles snapped in half.

I’ve never seen so much damage and I grew up were hurricanes and tornadoes are a common occurrence.

When we FINALLY got home, we were surprised to see the large poplar tree that is usually staring back at as through our fourth story windows on the ground.  We have worried about this tree falling and damaging our building many times in the past, but I am glad it is finally no longer a threat and did not hurt anything or anyone in its demise.

Here are some pictures of the tree’s final resting place:

I’m glad that everyone I know was not hurt and we all came out alive and safe, but I’m still wondering what is with all this crazy weather: 2 large snow storms in December and February each totaling more than 2 feet of snow, 2 microbursts in June that have caused tons of damage, and a June heatwave that I’ve never seen in Virginia!

If you’d like to check out more pictures from the storm, they can be found here.

Four years ago today, on Thursday, June 22, 2006, I met up with Ben Davidson for drinks at South Street Brewery.  We met as friends, but left as much more than that.

Ben, you are the love of my life, my best friend, and the one I want to spend the rest of my life with.  I love you!

Here are just a few of the happy times we’ve had together over the past 4 years:

Summer makes me feel young.  The sun makes me feel happy, and today, the first official day of summer, is the day with the most hours of sunlight.

I’m celebrating by going to an outdoor concert to see Sheryl Crow and Colbie Caillat this evening with some awesome ladies!

In honor of the true beginning of summer, I wanted to post one of my favorite summer pictures.

This was taken by one of my best friends and partners in crime, Sarah Travis, a couple of summers ago while camping at Spy Rock in Nelson County, Virginia.  From left to right sit Ben, Me, Ian (Ben’s younger brother and Sarah’s fiance), and Sarah.  We had a great time that involved hiking, climbing, watching the sunset, building a bonfire, roasting weenies, and watching the stars.  This will always hold a special place in my heart as one of my favorite camping trips and summer days!

Here are a couple of other pictures from that evening (also taken by Sarah).

I hope everyone kicks off their summer right and enjoys some fresh air and sunshine today!

These are from Ben’s mom’s garden. I absolutely love hydrangeas and the many colors they come in.

All of the different shades of pinks, purples, and blues just make me so happy!

If I ever get married, there will be lots of hydrangeas for sure!

I promised a recap of my Memorial Day weekend and my cousin’s wedding so here it is:

The weekend can be summed up in one word:  SPECTACULAR!

Almost the entire family was able to make it to the wedding.  People came from Washington State,  Oklahoma, Texas, South Carolina, Virginia, and New Mexico.  I’d say we did our best at taking over Sherman, Texas for the weekend!

Besides having a ton of fun, doing alot of reminiscing, and making new memories that will last a lifetime, I think the most important thing that came out of the trip was the realization that I have the best family in the world and I absolutely love them.  As children, we were all very close, but I often worry that after all of the years of college, and jobs, and everyone moving farther apart to pursue different careers or life choices, we would slowly drift apart and lose that closeness that we all had.

This trip definitely stifled those worries because even as adults, we all still enjoy each other’s company and realize how important it is to maintain that closeness that many other families are not lucky enough to have.

And in no specific order, here are my favorite moments from the trip:

• Marc calling me to tell me that they were running late to pick Ben and I up from the airport and they would be there soon if they didn’t die first from the roach crawling around Megan’s car
• Eating REAL Tex-Mex food and drinking margaritas with Megan and Ben on a Thursday afternoon
• Watching the Hangover with the fam and repeating quotes like, “Tigers love pepper; they hate cinnamon” and “Toodaloo Motha Fuckas”
• Running on the treadmill with my sister in the hotel gym on Friday morning and keeping each other motivated for our half marathon in October
• Eating continental breakfast with the whole family in the hotel lobby every morning
• Watching the surprise slide show made by Bryan’s (the groom) dad 3 times and loving it more each time
• Getting to know some of my cousins as adults since the last time I saw them they were still kids
• Dancing with Ben for the first time in our almost-4-year-long relationship
• Visiting with friends and family at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding reception
• Introducing Ben to the whole fam damily and to Sherman, Texas!
• DANCING with the fam (particularly to Footloose – will always remember the suspender tricks)
• Giving a speech at the reception to honor my cousin and one of my best friends
• Catching the bouquet (even if my mom DID volley it to me)
• Meeting many of the little ones who have joined our family but I hadn’t had the opportunity to meet yet and watching them dance and play on the dance floor
• Saying “Shelby Drink Your Juice” in a country accent every time Megan started to tear up at the thought of no longer being a Mitchusson to keep her from messing up her make-up
• The sigh of relief I had when mom fixed the zipper on my bridesmaid dress and once again confirmed that she is my ultimate hero
• Walking down the stairs at the reception with the best man as we were introduced to the guests to the tune of the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling”
• Partying at Cellarmans until midnight after the rehearsal dinner and then moving the party to the Holiday Inn Express gazebo until 2 AM the night before the wedding
• Getting my hair done with my mom, aunt, the bride, and the bridesmaids
• Getting pedicures and manicures with my mom, aunt, sister, and cousin
• Laughing the day after the wedding at the stories of dance moves involving the shocker
• Seeing Matt’s bee hives
• Dancing to “Girl’s Just Want To Have Fun” after “catching” the bouquet
• Watching my cousin get married in the same church my parents were married in almost 40 years ago

There are so many more great memories, but if I keep writing, you’d all get bored and stop reading!

And now, courtesy of Marc Mitchusson, a photo of the Scott Family great-grandaughters who attended the wedding and also some of my best friends in the whole world!

Well Sunday evening brought me back home and Monday morning brought me back to the real world, but I’m still thinking about how great our girls’ trip to the beach was.

We ate good food, drank some yummy cocktails and some fresh lemonade, we napped on the beach next to the ocean, tanned by the edge of the pool, visited an arts and crafts fair, met new and interesting people, played several rounds of rummy, watched a whole lotta Friends, did some outlet shopping, took lots of pictures, drank some $2 beers, and just had a blast!

It was a great weekend and I’m already wanting to go back again!

Here’s a picture of my two lovely ladies, Cris and Sarah, and myself out on the town in OBX!

Thanks to Sarah for the picture and thanks to Cris and her very generous parents for providing the venue that allowed us to make lots of new and wonderful memories!

I love this sign!

It’s almost as good as “We don’t swim in your toilet, so don’t pee in our pool!”

I’m laying on the beach AND I got to sleep till noon today! I haven’t done that since college!

As you can see from the picture, the weather is perfect and the beach is beautiful!

Well it’s time to forget about technology and enjoy the beach!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

I just want to say congratulations to my cousin and best friend, Megan Mitchusson.  I hope that her and Bryan Barnhill will have a long, happy, healthy, loving life together.

Here’s to Mr. and Mrs. B and the best weekend ever!  Thank you for letting me be a part of your special day!

P.S.  Megan you will always be a Mitchusson!