Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd, We're Back!

We are officially back in SoCal and starting to feel pretty settled in now.  This time around we moved a little further south in Orange County to Irvine.  We found a pretty good deal (by California standards) on an apartment in a new complex and signed an 18-month lease.

Our friends, Dustin, Donny, and Stacy came by to help us unload the truck. We couldn't fit the patio chairs out through the sliding door so we had to resort to Plan B: hoisting them up to our 2nd floor apartment balcony. We were SO grateful to have the extra help!

And here's what it looked like once the truck was all unloaded.  My awesome in-laws and family loaded up all of this stuff and drove a moving truck across the county for us.  We are so lucky to have such a great family!

It was fun to unpack and see some of the possessions we had forgotten that we owned.  All of our belongings (besides clothes) had been in storage for almost a year and a half.

Gotta love the Mason jar wine glass.  A wedding gift compliments of the one and only, Hilary Wilson Agnew :)



And I had forgotten about this door hanger my friend, Angie Bradtmueller, had made us. It really made the apartment feel more like home once I hung it up.

 

I am back working for the same early intervention agency that I worked for last year. Mike is currently finishing up a 13 week contract at a hospital 15 minutes north of where we live in Irvine.  He is in the process of hiring on with this hospital after his contract expires and working in the step-down ICU.

We've been enjoying our time living in a new city.  Here's a little bit of what we've been up to the last two months:



We saw the comedian, Jim Gaffigan, live in Temecula with a few friends.

Enjoyed dinner and a few drinks with Aubrey and Josiah at an excellent restaurant called "Public House" in Temecula.

Dana Point

Outdoor movie overlooking the beach.  We even had live entertainment before the movie (can you see the dancer in front of the screen?).

Made "healthy" cookies and they were husband approved.  They were made with wheat flour and contained a can of black beans pureed in them.  They were surprisingly tasty.

Completed a 1,000 piece puzzle.  That took FOR.EV.ER!!

Another outdoor movie; this one was at The Great Park near our house (yes, that's the name of the park).  The park has a huge helium balloon that you can ride in (see the huge orange ball in the night sky?).

Enjoyed a hike in Laguna Hills and found a little cave.

And enjoyed some pretty scenery.

A picture from the top of the hill we hiked up.

 

We've also been working on decorating our bedroom.  Mike made a frame to fit around our TV.

A photo collage wall...don't quite have the pictures in yet.

We made this headboard using pre-cut wood boards, paint, and 3-M wall hanging strips. Pretty simple!

Mike's completed TV frame.  Good work, babe.

 

Besides that we've just been enjoying the beaches, nature, scenery and weather; all the reasons we love CA.



Mike caught this photo of a dog watching the sunset from his rooftop deck in Laguna Beach.  Adorable :)

Dori and John visit

My older sister, Dori, and BIL, John, graced us with a visit this past week flying into Houston from Denver, Colorado for a long weekend stay.  We had a great visit and enjoyed exploring some new areas to all of us.  On Friday night, Mike and I whipped up a home cooked Texas bbq dinner for our guests including pulled pork sliders, cornbread, green beans with bacon, and peach cobbler with ice cream for dessert.  Mmm, mmm, good.  We finished off the night with a glass of wine from one of our favorite local spots, the Sonoma Wine Bar.  On Saturday, we checked out NASA's "Space Center" museum and learned all about life in space (astronauts "recycle" their pee...or drink their pee after filtering it...Something to consider in case you were ever considering becoming an astronaut).  We had excellent food that day, too, from a few restaurants in the Midtown area.  For lunch, we ate at "District 7" (American food) and for dinner we had Greek food from "Niko-Nikos".  Oh my goodness, talk about a divine food experience.  We pigged out that night and enjoyed every morsel...Gyros, Greek Potatoes, Feta fries, Spanakopita, Loukoumades (fried honey dough balls), Galaktoboureko...YUM!  I highly, highly recommend eating here if you are in the area.  Later that night we headed to an Improv comedy show where three different groups presented.  We ended the night with some good laughs.

 

On Sunday, we headed to Brazoria Wildlife Refuge which is just a little over an hour south of Houston.  We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed some hiking, that is until John started getting eaten alive by mosquitos.  Then we enjoyed the audio car tour :)  Brazoria had a nice variety of birds and wildlife (including 'gators!) and ended up being a really fun place to visit.

Sunday night we enjoyed a free concert at Hermann Park's Miller Outdoor Theatre.  We brought some drinks, the pup, and our roomies and had a great evening which finished off a great visit with Dori and John!

And now we are at the tail end of our time here in Texas.  Today Mike finishes up his last shift at the hospital and tonight we start our journey back to SoCal.  We are officially moving out of Indiana this time around.  Mike's awesome parents are meeting us on the road to CA with a moving truck packed with all of our house "stuff" and furniture and we will be on our way to becoming CA residents soon.  We've enjoyed our time here in Houston and will miss our roomies but are excited for our next adventure!

 

From Houston to San Antone and Tulsa, too!

We've been enjoying the "winter" weather which is now officially spring weather while we are here in Texas.  There have been lots of sunny days with mild temperatures in the 70's: perfect walking weather.  I've been walking a little more and exploring some of the surrounding areas including a really nice residential area with gorgeous homes called River Oaks.  Mae Mo has been my walking buddy and she holds her own quite nicely.  We've done a few 5 and 6 mile walks and she is keeping pace with me until the end.  When it is a little warmer out, though, she tires a bit faster.



Mike had to carry Mae Mo for part of this walk and she actually fell asleep in his arms.



Mae Mo is very good at letting us know when she needs a break.  She completely stops mid-stride and lies down in the shade.

 

To celebrate Saint Patty's day this year, the roomies and Mike and I took a short trip to San Antonio.  We had a hotel located on the infamous downtown "Riverwalk" and enjoyed views of the dyed green river along with a boat float parade during the afternoon.  The Riverwalk area proved to have many enticing restaurants and we dined on some amazing Tex-Mex food that night.  Mike and I explored the Alamo the next day, too, which was in walking distance from our hotel.

Although it looks like we are posing in a boardroom, this was actually taken inside of our hotel room.



Tough guys with green beer.



Our beloved roomies :)



Posing outside our hotel room.



One of the floats along the green San Antonio river.



The Alamo

On our way out of San Antonio we stopped at the Friedrich Wilderness Park. This was such a cool park!  All of the animals roam free and you just drive your car along the path through the park to view all of them.  It was neat to see the animals interacting together or running in a herd.  Some of the animals would come right up to your car window!  The park gives you a bag of food you can feed to the animals.



Look at the horns on this guy!  He kept nudging some of the other animals with these when they got in his way.

 

I found the ostriches slightly terrifying.



The zebras were so gorgeous to see up close.



Not like the timid deer in Indiana!



I thought this animal looked like some sort of mythical creature from a movie.

I loved the texture on this guy's horns.  You could see where he would use his horns to rub against objects and all the texture has been worn off especially on the ends.



Tried to capture the Riverwalk area behind us but our picture was pretty low quality.

I've been in Tulsa this past week taking a little vacation from my vacation.  I've been staying with my brother, Aaron, and sister-in-law, Susanna.  I came to celebrate Susanna's birthday with her and to just catch up with the two of them.  It has been delightful :)

Celebrating Susanna's birthday with dinner out with her friends and mom.

 

 

Oyster shooters. Yuck. Yep, there's a nasty little oyster in there with cocktail sauce and vodka.  Barf.

Girls' day with just the two of us.

We are headed to meet Mike in Dallas this weekend!  I'm SO looking forward to seeing my hubby again and excited to explore Dallas, too.  Easter is this weekend and it will be fun to celebrate with family (in Dallas with Aaron and Susanna) and then with friends (in Houston with Jon and Sarah).  I wish you all a happy and blessed Easter!