Texas Lou

Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

I realized the other day that I just passed the 7 year anniversary of moving to Virginia.  I believe I moved into my first Virginian residence on August 9th, 2005.

I remember how weak and sad I felt when I got here.  I literally kicked and screamed part of the way here and could think of nothing else more than to get back to Texas ASAP!  I never dreamed that I would still be here 7 years later.  Even though I still wish I lived in Texas and I miss my friends and family terribly, I wouldn’t change the past.  Had I not left Texas and moved to Virginia, I don’t think I would be as strong and independent as I am today.  Had I stayed in my comfort zone close to mommy and daddy, I may have never really gotten that push out of the metaphorical nest that I needed to truly become an adult.  Living close to my parents was always a crutch that I could take advantage of.  What if I had a flat tire? What if I got in a car accident?  What if I can’t figure out how to cook something?  Mom and dad were always right there to fix things for me.  Of course now they are only a phone call away, but being 2000 miles away from them made me realize that I needed to be able to rely on myself like an adult.

Another reason I would never change the decision I made 7 years ago to follow my college boyfriend to Virginia is that I would have never met so many amazing new friends and family.  I would have never fallen in love with and learned so much from Ben.  I probably would have stayed in an unhealthy and manipulative relationship and not morphed from the shy introvert into the outgoing extrovert (most of the time) that I am now.

I would also probably never get the chance to appreciate a more rural environment.  When I first moved to Charlottesville, I certainly had culture shock!  I spent my whole life living in HUGE cities like Houston and San Antonio.  Not having a gas station on every corner was pretty scary to me…it made me feel cut off from the rest of the world.  Now I LOVE living in a less urban environment.  It means that there are less traffic, less pollution, and less crowds to deal with.  And Facebook, cellphones, email, and this blog certainly keep me feeling connecting to the ones I love who are far away.

I’m so glad that I have traveled the path that lays behind me now.  It certainly wasn’t easy and it’s been filled with some sadness, heartbreak, and loneliness.  But it has also been filled with joy, surprise, adventure, learning, love, and amazement.  I know the future will definitely hold the bad and the good but it will also be shaped by the 7 years I’ve spent here and the decisions that led me here as well.  I just have to remember that in order to experience something amazing, I’ve got to take a risk, endure the negative, and keep a positive outlook on things.  Had I not left Texas, I wouldn’t be the person I am today and that would be sad, because I really do love who I am!

This weekend, Ben and I drove 366 miles to FINALLY visit my brother Mikey in Columbia, South Carolina.  The drive wasn’t bad at all…we drove through Lynchburg and Danville, Virginia, Greensboro and Charlotte, North Carolina, and finally made it to the beautiful state of South Carolina.  We made the trip in under 6 hours and that was with two stops for gas, bathroom breaks, and snacks.

When we got to Columbia on Friday evening, Mikey took us to one of his favorite brewpubs, the Hunter Gatherer, for dinner and drinks.  We each had delicious gyros and many microbrews.  We also finally got to meet Mikey’s South Carolina entourage (or part of it).  Ross, Katherine, and Josh met up with us for drinks and shared lots of crazy stories!

Saturday morning, we got up and went for a run around the University of South Carolina campus.  I did about 4.5 miles, but couldn’t keep up with Mikey and Ben who at a much faster pace, ran around 7.  It was really cool to see the campus and I also got a taste of the USC Gamecock school spirit from Mikey’s awesome roommate Katherine.  After our run, we hit the farmers market in Columbia, but soon it started raining, so we detoured to the Cock n’ Bull for what Mikey deems the best burgers in Columbia!  He was right…we all had delicious burgers while we watched the Olympics.

Later that afternoon, we got dressed up in our Texans gear and headed to Charlotte with Mikey’s buddy Josh who was gracious enough to drive us.  We stopped for sushi once we got to town and then continued on to tailgate before the game.  Much to our surprise, we realized that drinking on the streets in Charlotte on game day is legal accepted by the local police so we met up with some of Josh’s friends and enjoyed a few cold ones.

Mikey and I tailgating in our Texans jerseys!

Mikey and Josh enjoying cold beer in a hot parking garage.

The hubby and I getting ready for his first pro football game!

The guys at the game.

View of downtown Charlotte from the stadium.

The game was great!  The highlight was in the first quarter when Trindon Holliday scored an amazing touch down!  The night couldn’t have gone better with the Texans beating the Panthers 26 to 13.  Even though it was a preseason game, we made sure to out yell all of the Carolina Panthers fans surrounding us in true Texas spirit!

Sunday morning, we met up with Mikey’s friends for brunch at the Thirsty Fellow where I sampled the bellini, mimosa, and a bloody mary (the Sunday brunch trio)!  Food was great, drinks were awesome, and the company was the best.  But like all great weekends, this one had to end, so Ben and I loaded up the car and headed back to Charlottesville.  The trip was so much fun and I was sad it had to end.  I love getting to spend time with my brother and it was really cool to meet his friends and see where he spends his time.

I can’t wait for another trip back to South Carolina.  Next time I’ll make it a three-day weekend (or longer) and we’ll check out Charleston!

The Nederlander Theater on Broadway to be exact!

This weekend, a dear friend and I are making our way by car, by bus, by foot, and maybe by cab if our feet get tired, to see Disney’s Newsies The Musical on Broadway!  After a two hour drive to Northern Virginia, a five hour bus ride to New York City, and a short walk from our hotel to the Nederlander Theater, we will be seeing Newsies on Broadway after months of planning!

Attending a Broadway play is one of the many adventures on my very long bucket list.  You may be wondering how the fulfillment of this adventure has finally come to fruition.  Well, you’re in for a treat, so sit back, relax, and read on!

There once was a little girl named Sarah whose aunt took her and her cousin to see a Disney movie in the spring of 1992.  This little girl fell in love with the story and the characters and became forever fond of the film.  That movie was Newsies, starring the now famous Christian Bale!

Fast forward 20 years or so; that little girl happens to be all grown up and has become great friends and soon-to-be sister-in-laws with me.  One day, Sarah mentions the movie Newsies and after my response that I have never seen it, she exclaims that I HAVE to watch it and that it will be LIFE-CHANGING.  Well she was right!  I fell in love with the movie too and Ben even gave me the DVD for Christmas.

So imagine our excitement when Sarah learned that for a limited time only, a new musical based on Disney’s Newsies would be playing at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey!  So Sarah, our friend Wendy, and I bought tickets and drove more than 600 miles in a weekend to see the play!  It was definitely worth the drive and we even got to meet the up-and-coming Jeremy Jordan who just happens to be a Texan!

 

Jumping for Joy!

Me and my girls getting ready to see Newsies at the Paper Mill Playhouse!

Here I am meeting Jeremy Jordan who plays Jack Kelly and realizing that he is from Corpus Christi!

Here Wendy, Sarah, and I are waiting anxiously for Newsies to start!

We had an amazing trip and the play did so well that they decided to take it to Broadway!

So that is the story of how I came to see my first Broadway play!  Many thanks to Sarah and Wendy for the pictures above and hopefully I will have many more to share with you when I return!

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!

This is one of my favorite spots in the world. I’m spending a weekend at the Island House Condominiums in Padre Island, Texas. My family has been vacationing here most of my life and I’ve been swimming in this pool since I was 4 years old. I hope my kids will one day come to love this little piece of paradise like I do.

I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog!  It’s been an extremely busy summer with lots of traveling, special occasions, and activities!

Recently, I’ve been helping my friend Sarah get ready for her wedding that is two weeks from tomorrow, but once things calm down some and the slow and relaxing air of autumn is here, I will share all of my adventures!

Today is a perfect day at the beach filled with waves, sand, sunshine, watermelon, and surf fishing.  I wish this vacation could last longer!

Well it rained all day yesterday here in Chincoteague, but the good news is that’s all the rain the forecast is calling for while we are here.

Above are some rainy day pictures from the first day of our summer vacation.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  I’ve had blogger’s block (or writer’s block for the traditionalists out there).

I’ve also been contemplating starting a new blog.  Don’t worry, that doesn’t mean that Texas Lou will be retired.  This blog will continue to be my personal blog.  But I’d like to start more of a professional blog dealing with a specific topic or project.  Deciding on that topic is the hard part, but I’ve been letting a few ideas marinate.

I hope everyone had an awesome 4th of July and a great long weekend!  Just 4 days until I get to go to the beach!

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!