Hurricane Gustav

If you’ve been watching the news (which I really haven’t been in the last two days), Hurricane Gustav is making it’s way towards the Gulf Coast in the next couple of days. It so happened that we planned a mini-vacation in Austin this week. We’re spending it with Ryan and Suzette’s family; it’s been fun so far. We went shopping at the Prime/Tanger outlet malls and floated down the river next to Schillterbahn. Pictures will be posted once we get back to Houston. However, depending on where the storm moves, we might not be traveling back to Houston right away, especially if they have contraflow in place. We’ll keep you posted with anything we hear.

Wedding Photos

Hooray! We finally got the dvd of our wedding photos, so if you would like any 4×6’s let us know and we can print them off for you. We’ll look into seeing if we can make copies of the dvd. Click here to see the collection of photos.

On a Whim

If I were to buy something on a whim right now, it just might be this: a 2004 Porsche Cayenne S. With only 44K miles and a <$30K price tag, I’m sold. Having driven the Porsche Cayenne Turbo a few times, I definitely like the ride. It may not have the horsepower of a turbo, but it still has the look.

“Eventually, it all boils down to: Do I want a car, or do I want a Porsche?”

Yes, yes I do.

Got Water?

It’s amazing how much you take things for granted such as…let’s say…water. After saying goodbye to our EQ Pres, I went to wash my hands. Low and behold, no water. For a second I though, “Huh, that’s strange. Maybe there’s a little air in the pipes.” Well, I guess it turned out to be more than a little bit of air. More like all air and no water. According to our concierge, a water main broke somewhere in the Museum District, thereby bringing us all back to the 1800s (in one regard). Still, I decided to go workout at the gym. So what does a sweaty person do when he can’t shower? Find a swimming pool. 🙂 I’ll let you know how my little dip in the pool goes. One thing’s for certain; I won’t be cold when I get out. You gotta love Houston. 🙂

FHE- a Bike Ride to Rice University

We have been wanting to check out Rice campus for a long time since Texas claims it is one of the prettiest universities in the nation, and we drive by it every day. By around 8pm it finally started to cool off so we decided to take our bikes. The campus is situated right in the middle of the Medical Center and busy side streets, but it is well protected by live oaks and large grassy areas. The entrance is beautiful with oak trees lined up on both sides of the street which opens up to a large area of grass and then a beautiful red brick building. Once you walk through the hallway of the building there is a grassy courtyard circled around by red brick buildings.  We loved the architecture of the buildings, how they were all of the similar Ivy League style.

It didn’t take long for our bike ride to become unsafe in the dark, and we were both dripping with sweat and my legs were covered in bug bites. Next time I think we’ll drive and explore the insides of the buildings and maybe eat at the underground pub.

Mixers, Elixirs, & IMAX

All summer long, the Houston Museum of Natural Science has been throwing these Friday night events. People congregate to enjoy a little mixin’ and elixin’ while enjoying some of the exhibits. ExxonMobil was treating and I couldn’t turn down the offer, so Diane and I spent the evening looking at some fabulous gems and jewelry as well as catching a free IMAX movie (Dinosaurs 3D). It was a fun night. Best of all, we were able to walk to the event because we live that close to the museum. 🙂

Our Cozy Little Apt

People have been asking us for a while now and we’ve both been delaying this post because we couldn’t really take pictures that truly captured the different rooms in the apartment. Diane told me that some camera shops let you rent lenses for a nominal fee; unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find one. I’ve been wanting to rent a wide-angle lens, but oh well. I’m not going to pay $800 for one.

Anyway, Diane has taken the plunge and shooting away right now on our Canon Rebel Xsi (thanks dad!). Hopefully, the pictures give you a good idea of how we’ve decorated the place (most of the decorating was obviously done by my lovely wife). We love our place. If I could buy this apartment, I probably would (well, I’d probably get the 2 bedroom + loft).

I tried to organize the pics as if you were entering the apartment. The loft pictures look a little yellow b/c we had the light on. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics!

Oh Yeah

We haven’t used Fernando’s camera in a while and I just noticed that we have tons of pictures of the Utah Hogle Zoo trip back in June. We took our nieces Natalie and Elizabeth to the zoo while their parents went to the SLC temple for the first time. It was one of those things we had been wanting to do before we left Utah. We also went to the Aquarium too, but it wasn’t as much fun. If you haven’t been to the Hogle Zoo, we’d highly recommend it.  And while you’re there, be sure to see the bird show.

Thunderstorms

I’ve quickly learned that when there’s a chance for rain in Houston, there’s a certainty for rain in Baytown. Without fail, it always rains in Baytown. Today, I had the unfortunate luck of being outside everytime the weather started acting up. On the drive home today, I was hit by another storm rolling through Houston. Right now, the streets are literally flooding. Think of Niagra Falls just being poured over the city of Houston. That’s what’s going on. I’ve was creating 4′-5′ walls of spray on the side of the Accord. I’ve gotten used to using the super fast wipers, which is something I almost never did. The lightning/thunder is so awesome too! We’re talking thunder so loud that it sets off the car alarms in the parking garage. Oh, what a good day. 🙂 Too bad it means that we’re not going to the outdoor movie at Hermann Park tonight.

Are You Smart?

I don’t know how it happened, but over the weekend we started talking about the Smart car. You know, those little cars that you find all over Europe and Asia. Well, we decided to go for a test drive last night. I haven’t really test driven cars and I’ve always wanted to do so. We arrived at the Mercedes Benz dealership a little after 5pm (since they own Smart). I felt a bit “underdressed” in terms of my ride (I was surrounded by a bunch of brand-new Benz’s, a Bentley, and a Ferrari).

Diane was the first to go on a test drive (the car only fits two people and the salesman wasn’t about to let us both go) and she came back very excited. She had a great time driving it. Then it was my turn. I really didn’t get to drive it very far and I had to follow the directions of the salesman. I liked the car, but I didn’t have a chance to have fun with it.

Well, guess what. We decided to buy one! OK, so not really “buy” one. It’s not possible to do that just yet. There’s an 18-month waiting list. We went ahead and “reserved” one by putting $99 down. In 6-12 months, I’ll get an email saying it’s time to configure the car. Anyway, we’re excited and it fits perfectly into our schedule (we were planning to buy a new car in two years). And yes, the picture above is the model we’re looking to get (colors and all).