Wifflefest 2009

Each year Philip and I host a wiffleball tournament for some old friends. Last year due to rain we were unable to have the event. So we were back with a vengance this year and ready to play and grill some hot dogs! This thing is getting so fun I'm thinking about getting a trophy made! The winning team usually scores a pretty sweet prize and this year each team member got $50 to the Cheesecake Factory (Yum!) Glad everyone could come out and play some ball. Enjoy the pics below!

Snow in Texas

So, yes I'm late with this post but it did snow down here early in December, which is almost unheard of in Houston. Plus, if it does snow, it never sticks around long enough..not like the good old days in KC Missouri where you could count on a few feet of snow to play in at Christmas. So we took the opportunity to go to the farm in Wharton and hang out in the snow. Our puppy Ruby got her first chance to see snow as well and LOVED it!

Our puppy Ruby is now 7 months old and has recently returned from her hunting training. Before she left she would climb our fence to the neighbors' house to play with their puppy Domino, whom happens to be her brother.

I thought for sure after being away for 3 months in training she would've forgotten all about climbing the fence. Plus, she's a lot bigger now. But, alas she didn't forget. I've found her on the other side of the fence many times since she's returned and today I caught her on video. She has been shock collar trained so we only have to use the vibration level and we'll be putting it on her to train her to NOT climb the fence so she doesn't get her collar stuck on it one day and hurt herself.

It still makes for a pretty funny video. So without further adieu; here is Houdini herself starring in Ruby's Great Escape!

Long Time No Talk

It has been way too long since our last update and we've been up to a lot! In September we made a trip to Dallas to visit Tim Wright for his house warming party, his first house deserves a good christening party right? Many great family members were on hand from the Wright side of the family and it had been way too long since we had seen everyone....Sarah, Mike, Sean, Tim, Rob & Charlotte plus Roger and Julie!! We really enjoyed hanging out and some great BBQ cooked by the master of the house himself. On the way up there we stopped by Fort Worth to check out the town. I lived in Dallas for 3 years and never made it over there. We checked out the Sundance Square in the downtown area and they were hosting a classic car show! After chowing on some pizza at an awesome Italian restaurant (Taverna Pizzeria & Risotteria) we made our way around the cars and bought a souvenir or two before heading on our way to Dallas. After all was said and done the weekend passed way too fast, but never fear we'll be back. I really want to take Philip back to the grassy knoll and the 6th floor museum at Dealey Plaza to visit the grounds of the Kennedy assassination. When my family moved to Dallas in 1995 for about three years my dad and I couldn't wait to make the trip and I really enjoyed seeing that piece of American history that I had read and seen so much about. I can't believe he grew up in Houston and never made the trip to see the old book depository....so we will definitely make that trip soon and post tons of photos for you all! Without further ado photos of Tim's house warming party!

LUMA Lights

Last night we went to Miller Outdoor Theater to check out the LUMA light show. It is a show where people dance and juggle in the dark all while holding or wearing /various kinds of LED, glow sticks etc. VERY GOOD SHOW! (They're playing tonight Sat 8/29 again) I went with a group of neighbors and Philip of course...we had some good friends meet us up there...thanks Matt, Jennifer, Gracen and Daniel!! A good time was had by all, plus we rocked out an awesome picnic as well (more on that later) One of the funniest times of the night was when these 2 boys; they couldn't have been more than 7; were invading our little cluster of lawn chairs. They just sat down in our chairs and pulled them over to where they wanted to sit so they could see the show. I started laughing so hard and their mother happened to be standing beside me was trying to hide her laughter as well while the dad yelled at them to get out of our chairs. I told the kids don't worry they could sit down because it was hard work standing the whole time. They looked so scared when they were caught, it was just too funny. I remember the days of being a kid when you just don't think about those things. Your legs are tired and you come across a chair and you sit down...as simple as that! You don't stop to think that someone may own that chair, that's just needless details! I wish I could have taken more video for you guys because the show really was cool so but they didn't want you recording so I've posted a view videos and a youtube video with more good stuff on it. Apparently the show has toured all over China and came to our little free outdoor theater. (remind me to make a donation to them, they deserve it!) Anyways, the picnic. I made a super awesome sandwich, and NO, it wasn't just a sandwich, this was a pure work of art. It was a big loaf of french bread sliced in half and TOASTED on the stove grill. THEN I proceeded to top it with turkey, ham, swiss cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, BACON and mayo...but the mayo that was the secret, I mixed in some ranch dressing with the mayo so it was a kind of ranch sauce...(you can wipe the drool from your mouth now.) It was very good. Then I made a chilled pasta salad with bow tie pasta, red peppers, black olives and a balsamic vinaigrette. It was also very good...seriously I'm going to open a restaurant! If you want the recipes I'll send it your way just let me know!
lightning show

video of the light show

Sioux City Iowa Trip

I was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri and didn't make it down to Texas until I was about 15 years old. So when my parents and sister took a trip up to Iowa to visit my uncle Jeff and cousin Penn I had to whip out the camera along the way. I wish we were visiting under better circumstances, and not for a funeral, but non-the-less it was very good to see them and I welcome any chance when I get to give them a hug and say hello. (Love you both lots!!) Well below are some pics I took on our epic 16 hour drive through: Dallas, Oklahoma City, Kansas, Missorui & Sioux City Iowa.
It was really interesting to see the school where my dad and uncle attended and their old house. I really did love the town; it's been a long time since I was up there. Rolling hills and cute homes with amazing yards. I swear everyone had flowers, sculpted shrubbery and gardens. (thanks for the home grown tomatoes Jeff they were so good!) The weather was also gorgeous, a nice 70 degrees at night at the most!

Ruby Visits Petsmart

Some of you may know that our puppy Ruby has left us for hunting training. She's been gone for 3-weeks and I miss her already, though we went to visit her last weekend and she is doing very well fetching live pigeons. Last month I had an appearance at Petsmart for Sunny 99 a local radio station here. I usually stop by my remotes to check on the DJ and promo crew, but this time I decided Ruby should get out. So we took a trip in the car and she LOVED it! I got her a new toy, a Canadian Goose that honks, figured it could help with her hunting training.

Reason #17689 Why I Love Technology

For some it's about the larger things in life, not me, it's the small details that make things worth while.

For instance today, I stopped by one of my favorite food establishments, chick-fil-a for lunch.

For my Yankee readers it's a fast food place with...wait for it....chicken. There's no beef on the menu and it's mainly a southern chain of restaurants. I hesitate to use the word fast food because chick-fil-a is mostly healthy and has tons of grilled options and fruit instead of fries. I love me some chick-fil-a, especially those waffle fries and fresh lemonade. They're also a family place with kids night, and are closed on Sundays. (I think someone tried to sue them for being closed on Sunday and of course that moron lost. Hey if you don't like Gods day that's your problem, but the chick-fil-a and it's workers need a day off too!)

Anyways you're saying get to the point Nicole, what does this have to do with technology. Remember it's in the details people. Usually chick-fil-a has MAJORLY long lines around lunch and dinner. Today when I pulled up, of course it was the same; long line and tons of people inside as well. But today wasn't like any other day. There was a worker standing outside by the drive through what a clipboard in his hand walking toward me so I roll down the window. Said clipboard was NOT a clipboard at all, it was a WIRELESS DEVICE FOR PLACING YOUR ORDER! Seriously, I believe that the menu with 15 choices is what slows people down. They pull up and gaze around at the menu aimlessly and proceed to order the SAME THING they do every time they pull up except that they've wasted 2 minutes per car of MY time. Eliminated the menu, lessen the wait that's what I say.

After I ordered he proceeded to take my debit card and I was able to pay on the spot! Can you believe that? The line moved much faster and I received my crispy goodness that is waffle fries that much faster.

I have often said that God knew what time period I needed to exist in. I could not churn butter, ride in a covered wagon, club mammoths, skin cattle for clothing or live without air conditioning. It's just not in it for me, I love my Internet, laptop computer, guitar hero, digital camera and my car way too much.

They even put a little calendar of their family events in my bag July 10th is "Dress Like a Cow and Receive Free Chicken," does someone have a child & costume I can borrow for that?

Withdrawls

Yes it's 12:45am on a Thursday morning and I'm still awake even though I have to go to work tomorrow (hopefully it's a short day since it's a holiday weekend...(come on boss-man let us out early!)
Anyways, I'm awake because Philip just left for the farm...long story short, he's going for a night with some friends because he's been itching to get down there and had to work late tonight filling up all his machines...Hey!...you know how YOOOOOU get when you don't have your daily snickers/m&m/skittle/coca cola fix. I know how I am when I don't have chocolate and it's not a pretty picture...actually that picture could be taken of my hips and you would understand better...more on that later, I've got to get in shape while I'm still in my mid twenties just so I can have that hot bikini picture to look back on for memories sake.
Anyways, I digress, Philip took off and he took my puppy Ruby with him. (notice how I say MY puppy...however, if she does something bad she's automatically PHILIP'S puppy), hey I just make the rules people, they don't have to make sense.

It's Ruby's first trip to the farm and her first trip in her crate in the back of a truck. She made the haul out to brother Pat's house while in the air conditioned coolness of Philip's car, but this is a first. I am slightly worried about her, I put a pillow inside the crate, because the truck could be a bumpy ride of course! I put a bone, a toy and that's about it so I hope she won't be to scared by the wind whipping through the crate at 70 mph as she speeds down the highway. She watched me say 'good-bye' the whole way down the street so I can only hope she's ok since I didn't hear her say anything like "get me the hell out of here!"

Actually I think she will be pleasantly surprised when she arrives at the farm with spaces bigger than our back yard to run around in.
(sigh) I'm guessing this actually would be worse if she were actually our child, geeze calm down Nicole, it's just a dog. (I've never had a dog by the way, so grant me some allowances people)

She's a pretty smart dog. I've taught her to sit & lay down and she's 3 months old. We're working on 'roll over' and when she actually listens to that one she has a pretty good 'high five' we've worked on.

What's the best trick you've taught your dog??? Don't be shy people there's plenty of space to comment!

*oh and blog stalkers, yes I'm home without my puppy Ruby tonight but I have an alarm, and 3 more dogs in the back yard so don't get any bright ideas!

Our New Addition to the Family

Meet Ruby! She was born on April 1st (April Fools Day, no lie) to Philip's brother Peter's dog Lakota. I have never had a dog before so I was kind of warry about getting one since it's such a big responsibility, but after we talked it over and I played with her a bit I was sold!

Ruby is a black lab whom is going to be very big judging by the size of her paws. She is very laid back and has not even knawed on us yet, only her toys. She likes to sleep all day, be brushed and chew her bones. She is also very smart and I've taught her 'sit' and 'down' already! I think we'll work on stay and shake next! Philip wants to send her off to hunting school in another 2 months so maybe I can train her enough to be the smartest dog in class!


You may not be able to see in the photos but her tag is an Astros baseball with her name on the back...Philip was overjoyed when I brought that one home!

Ruby vs the Vacuum

The Last Suchecki Gets Married

The weekend of May 30th Philip's cousin Jim Suchecki got married! We drove to Midland Texas from Houston on that Friday. It was about an 8 hour drive and it was the farthest west I've been on I-10 in Texas. The scenery was very nice once we passed through San Antonio. We had such a blast at this wedding with all of Philip's family and I am truly excited for Jim and his new bride Kuohui. She is super cool and they make a lovely couple!!

Art Cars

Each year in Houston we have an art car parade. It's a collection of local artists, and artsy/creative types that have taken the time to decorate their cars into various themes. I went downtown with the neighbors to check it out on Friday evening. Next year we'll have to go to the parade because there are tons more cars that show up for that. You can see more of their cars on their website here. The Art Car Parade has been around 22 years. The parade attracts 250+ vehicles and other entries from 23 states and Canada, and a live audience of some 250,000. Parade entries include anything on wheels from unicycles to lawnmowers to cars, and are as likely to be made by members of the general public as by recognized artists. It started in 1984 with a donated car to The Orange Show (that's a whole other story) but the donated car was decorated with fruit and auctioned off, in 1987 they organized a parade.

In this video the fish and lobsters were singing "You Put the Lime in the Coconut" the car has over 5 miles of wiring inside it to make them all move and light up!

Joe White's 70th Birthday

Last Saturday Philip's dad turned 70 and we had an awesome party for him at their oldest brother's house. We grilled and partied down into the night. A lot of family came into town for this and my parents even stopped by....here's to many more birthdays for Joe!!!

At the Farm

It's been a long time since we've been to the farm and we're always talking about it with our neighbors, so we finally decided to go this past Saturday and a fun time was had by all. We fished, flew a kite, went to the beach, made smores over the fire and more! It was really great to have a mini vacation outside of Houston to keep you sane!

Astros Opening Day

On opening day this year we were lucky enough to be included in a group of season ticket holders that got to hold the flag on the field while they introduced the players and played the national anthem. We showed up early and went beneath the stadium and unrolled a HUGE flag to await our cue. When it was time we marched out on the field to the clapping and cheering of all the fans for our flag. (Awesome feeling) we held it for about 10 minutes while players came on field. But the most exciting part was when the anthem played and our flag whipped in the wind, there was a fly over of 4 helicopters right over our head as well! Over all it was an awesome experience! Astros did not win, but better luck next time!

Houston High Water

Many of you may know that when it rains for a significant amount of time and rains heavily Houston has flooding issues. Often times our feeder roads and roads surrounding neighborhoods become inindated with tons of water. Usually after a few hours it drains off and today was no exception, although I do get to stay home later from work as I wait which is nice, and why I can post today! I walked outside and walked down our street, it never really floods on our street, but the surrounding streets do in certain areas which makes getting out of or into our neighborhood difficult.

Mexico City

In mid February we took a trip to Mexico for Jeff Camp's wedding. Some of you may know what Philip lived in Mexico City for a semester while he went to Texas Tech de Monterrey. A friend of his mother lives there and he stayed with them and their children.

So when we decided to make the trip to Cuernavaca for the wedding we decided to visit them as well and take a few more days to see Mexico City.

We went out to see the pyramids in the city of Teotihuacan about an hour outside of Mexico City. I think we paid about $60 American each for a private guide who took us to the pyramids and Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. There are two main pyramids and they are built for the sun and the moon, of course the Sun Pyramid is the largest and the 3rd largest pyramid in the world! The stairs on them are extremely steep and tall so it's a rough climb at times especially because Mexico City is pretty high up in altitude to begin with...but it is completely worth it to see the view from the top.



The Aztecs built this city and it was an area of worship and it was used and in existence from 1AD-650AD...that is a long time and a testament to the resourcefulness of their culture because it was built in a desert area with little water. Over time grass grew over the pyramids making them look like nothing more than large hills until they were discovered in the 19th century. They say if you climb to the top of the sun pyramid you will receive a blessing from God..here's hoping :o)

I didn't get any pictures of the church since the camera battery ran out. But it was where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to St. Juan Diego in the 1500's and asked for a church to be built for her. When we went there were many people sleeping around the church, it is because a lot of people make pilgrimages to the church each weekend and walk from long distances, especially those of Mexican Indian decent. The church was HUGE and holds many relics.

Rodeo 2009

February means rodeo season in Texas and this year we went to the San Antonio Rodeo, Houston Rodeo and the Bay City rodeo, man you'd think I was born in Texas instead of Missouri with all this Southern action! This was my second year to go to the Bay City Rodeo and let me just say...this is by FAR, THE BEST rodeo out there. First off, their arena only holds maybe a few thousand people and you are close enough to see all the action, which makes it more exciting! This year we sat right on the rail, close enough to have dirt fly in your beer, bull snot flung on you and close enough to catch a cowboy should he come flying over the rail, which happened several times!

I think little nephew Luke was in shock and awe at how cool it all was that he could hardly speak! I really do love the mutton bustin' event, where the little kids hold onto a sheep for dear life as it runs with them on it's back across the rodeo floor.

There's also a rare event they have which consists of a team of 3 men and I forget the name of it, but, the two biggest guys are responsible for holding down the steer (which has horns) then the last guy, usually really skinny, puts a rope around the cow and climbs on top of the cow and has to ride it to the end of the arena floor. It's really a funny event, but these guys have to be super careful and strong to be successful, which most aren't.

At the Houston Rodeo we mostly checked out the live stock show, the rodeo is nice, but you're so far away from the action since Reliant Stadium is so huge that it takes away from how cool Rodeo really is. Anyways, photos below and a cute one of my favorite animal, new born piglets from Houston.

Hockey and Lobster Anyone?

Well I have been a bad blogger and have not updated in a long time, which is funny because we have been up to a lot so be ready for photo overload!

Let's see first off we went to check out a hockey game when Papa Joe's home town team came for a visit. The Houston Aeros beat the Binghampton NY team that night and the game was really good. I love hockey and even minor league games are entertaining, but I do miss going to the NHL games in Dallas they are the best, fast paced and exciting, right mom!! Go Red Wings. Below is a photo of the boys checking out the game, I brought my sis Cori as well!

I made an awesome surprise dinner for Philip of steamed lobster. Well, let me correct myself, it was SUPPOSED to be a surprise, until he came home and started rooting around the fridge for a snack and discovered the lobsters in the freezer, under the veggies and turned over so you couldn't see what was in the package. I tried to hide them, but I guess when there's a hungry guy around they're going to look at everything the fridge has to offer.

Rehearsal Dinner

Photos by Melanie Barfuss.

Wedding Pics Take Two

These photos were taken by the lovely and talented Melanie Barfuss. She had albums and CD's of photos back to us the DAY AFTER the wedding! I don't know how you did it but we are so extremely lucky to have you in our lives!! Love ya!!

Wedding Pics

Horray! Finally I am uploading the pictures. I'll post several galleries. These are from our photographer Alicia Cargile.