James' Baptism: July 25th, 2010

On July 25th my nephew James got Baptized! I arrived early at Margo, Brian and James' house to help them get ready for the big day. James recently took his first big step towards boyhood: he rolled over!!! Margo got him to roll over for me the first morning that I was there. He sure is good at it!

Margo and I made a grocery list and a cleaning list and got to work on Thursday. James did not get near enough attention from the two of us that day. Little did he know that he would be bombarded with people who wanted to hold him the next day! Even my other nephew Jack wanted to lend a helping hand! Here Jack is feeding James. It was too cute to see these two in action. On Friday, MH, Jack, Mom and Pop came in town mid day. That evening, the Alfords and the Routons made it. All day Saturday we sat around the Alford's (Margo, Brian and James), and hung out with the family! It was so nice to relax and not have to worry about anything all day!

On Sunday James got baptized! Here are some of the photos from the day of. He did so great during the ceremony. Margo and Brian fed him right before and no one heard a peep out of him.

A lot of Margo and Brian's friends in Huntsville came for the big day! It was soo nice to see all of them again.

Here's Jack before the ceremony. You can tell by his facial expression that he is up to no good ;)

The Alfords, Mortons and Carrs.

Brian, Margo and James before the Baptism.

The Alfords and Routons

Here is Margo feeding James right before the service. It worked like a charm to keep him quite for an hour!

I can't wait to see Brian, Margo and James sometime in October when Emily and Ryan have their baby girl!

Don't Mess with Texas

I only managed to take one picture while I was in Boerne, my apologies! I'm sure my mom has some more on her blog if you check it out. The night I arrived we went to a wine tasting at a brand new wine store/ bar in Boerne. After the tasting Mom and Pop went to a local play! Here they are with Lucy before the play!

The rest of the trip was a blast. On Friday, Mom and I roamed around Boerne and did some boutique shopping. Boerne has grown up quite a bit, it was so much fun to see all the new stores they have on Main Street. Then we met up with Pop at the Dodging Duck Microbrew. Now that I know a little bit more about beer (thanks to Rory), I was able to make a better assessment of how good the beer was!

On Saturday, I had my first experience with a push lawnmower in Mom and Pop's new back yard. That was tough work! I can definitely say that I like riding lawnmowers more than push mowers. Later that day we went to San Marcos to do some birthday shopping and then onto Gruene Hall for a beer. On our way home I decided that I would cook my favorite meal for Mom and Pop: Turkey Chili. Let me know if you want the recipe, it's delicious!

On Sunday, we started off with Church and then had plans to go to Boerne lake. Instead I took a much needed 3 hour nap. Then we headed off to the Perry's house where we saw nearly everyone I know in Texas: Perrys, Jerry McFarlen, Wilsons, Evans, Bitsy and Steve, and more. It made me miss Sunday night dinners.

Thanks Again for having me Mom and Pop! Can't wait to come see you again in September!

Florida!

Rory and I made the 10.5 hour trek to Florida. It was absolutely gorgeous. There was no oil to be found. We arrived late Wednesday night and then had 4 full days to enjoy MH, Matthew, Jack and the beach! Here is a picture of the beach from MH and Matthew's Beach Club pool!

As you can tell there was not a cloud in the sky. The first day Rory and I had some major difficulties with applying sunscreen. So on Friday we decided to go get the spray on sunscreen to try to tan away our stomachs that looked more like red and white puzzle pieces.

On Saturday we went to the beach but parked by one of the lakes. I made a hole with my feet and watched the water come into it. Jack decided this was a good place to sit. We were worried he wouldn't like being buried but he had a blast as you can tell by the photos. It amused him for at least 15 minutes!

Here he is again showing Rory how he can shut the truck's door! He went around and shut all the doors. We would try to go and open them again so we could hear some music, but Jack would go back and shut them all again. It was hilarious!

Something I did not know about 2 yr olds, they have an odd fascination with cups. He would take the cup fill it up with water and pour it into whatever vessel was nearby. In this case it was the Tonka Truck! We had soo much fun! Thanks MH and Matthew for having us! I can't wait to come for Christmas!

Last weekend before my last days of work!

The last weekend before I was done with Hendrix included a lot of Hendrix activities! We had Hendrix night at the travs on June 25th and then Katie and Kent's Wedding on the 26th! I got to see a whole lot of Hendrix folks that I hadn't seen in a long time.

At the Arkansas Travelers game I got to see Jan, David and Sarah Alford. I introduced Rory to a few Hendrix professors waiting in line for a beer in the beer garden. Then I got to see a few of my prospective students that came over all the way from Memphis!

Here is Lana and Rory hanging out in the beer garden after we had our fill of hot dogs, hamburgers and popcorn at the Hendrix event. Josh Wilson and Josh Johnson. Josh Wilson has once again taken to closing his eyes for every picture that is taken of him!
The newly engaged: Chris Stevens and Rachel Floyd! They met up with us after all the Hendrix festivities went down.
On Saturday night we went to Katie and Kent's wedding. They had their reception at the Arkansas Arts Center. It was gorgeous and the food was delicious. They had a potato and grits bar. I was in heaven! I definitely went back for seconds on the grits.

Here is John and Kelley! We started the Hendrix table front and center at the wedding, right near the grits bar! Patrick Ford made a trip to Arkansas just for this wedding! It was fantastic to see him.

All the Galloway Girls together again!

I even managed to get a picture of Rory and I. I took the same picture with my phone and it was a lot better. Sorry I couldn't manage to get that one up here!

Last but not least, Lana and Rachel!

It was a fantastic weekend! I can't wait for another Hendrix wedding... Just around the corner on Dec. 18th!

Wakarusa 2010

My first major music festival ever!! It was a blast. Rory and I arrived around 9 pm on Wednesday night and stayed through Sunday morning. Rory's Uncle Robert and his friends reserved and RV spot. It was in the shade, we had water and electricity hook up. We also got the luxury of showers and real restrooms. A commodity that I was very appreciative of after about 20 minutes in the heat. There were a lot of great shows there and some very interesting people!


For example, I didn't realize that hula hoops were a popular item for anyone over the age of 12.





Here is a picture of one of Rory's favorite bands - The Black Keys. This was a great show. Everyone that was staying at the RV site with us set up an umbrella and a few chairs. I felt bad about blocking a good view, but shade was hard to come by.


This Umbrella was the first one we had set up. The next few times we set up a tarp for cover so we could fit more people underneath.

One of the stages was located under a giant tent! It was the best place to be. Complete shade with a breeze and cool grass. Here we are taking a break from the heat in between shows!

Right by this tent was a ton of food, another stage and a carnival set up. We didn't go on any rides, but it looked like fun!

Spring time!

I am so excited the spring is finally here! Sadly, I really do enjoy the feeling of being suffocated by the humidity sometimes. Give me a week or two and I am sure that feeling will go away.

Rory and his friend Paul got us tickets to the first Arkansas Razorbacks baseball game in Little Rock in something like 25 years! It was completely packed, we had to arrive about an hour early for decent seats on the berm. One night we decided to go to North Little Rock for some Mexican food. It turned out to be one of the most amusing nights on record. Parker(on the left) decided he wanted to make a pride bet with Paul that he could eat his entire plate, his gigantic margarita, the remainder of his wife Kathryn's food and an additional plate of fish tacos. Paul thought it was a sure win, so he suggested that it turn into a slap bet - the winner gets to slap the loser no strings attached. In the end, despite Paul's confidence in winning, Parker came out like a champ and cleaned his plate. Here they are signing the official agreement on the back of a receipt.
The waiter was so kind to us that night, we decided to have a picture taken of this monumental occasion. Note: the slap didn't happen in the restaurant, but we had about 8 people there so we were making a fair amount of noise. From left to right - Our waiter, Parker, Paul and Kathryn.

Once we got back to Kate's house Parker took his opportunity to slap Paul no strings attached. It looked like it hurt, but Paul should have seen it coming!

I also took my last admission trip to Nashville and Chattanooga. These are a few of the folks that I hang out with when I am on the road. From left to right - Lindsey (UGA), Seaton (College of Charleston), Lori (SMU), and Ryan (Berry College). It was a great trip, it was sad to say goodbye to my friends for 2 months of the year.

Rory and I are headed to Wakarusa the first weekend in June! I will definitely post some pictures and stories after that!

Wedding Season Begins!

We have officially kicked off wedding season 2010. Since I have been lacking in pictures I decided I would make this one picture heavy instead of text heavy. So here are a few pictures from wedding related events. The first two were taken at Melissa and Chris's engagement party in North Little Rock. This one is Rory and Paul (his old roommate)

Kate and her mom.

Then this past weekend we all met up again at Melissa and Chris's wedding in NLR and reception at the Junior League Headquarters in downtown Little Rock. The wedding we was gorgeous and the food and drink were delicious. It was great to see all of Rory's friends and celebrate!

Emily and her boyfriend Robert!

Rory, Ann and Parker

Besties!

Chris Mi and me

Rory and me!

Jenna and Julian (note, 2 days after the wedding they got engaged)

Rick, me and Parker

Emily and Kate.

Easter Weekend

Second blog post in a row with no pictures! But I felt that it was necessary to tell you about Easter Weekend in Little Rock!

Most everyone made the trip to Little Rock for Easter and Margo's Baby Shower.

On Thursday night I got to see Margo, Brian, Julie and Steve at the Purple Cow! (In case anyone was wondering, I had a mint chocolate chip shake). We parted ways until 10:30am the next morning when everyone came to visit Hendrix and see the new building. I then spent most of my remaining dining dollars and treated everyone to lunch in the new and improved cafeteria! It was chicken strips and mac and cheese as always!

When I headed to the airport to pick up Mom and Pop. Rory, Brian and Ryan were headed to the races in Hot Springs! Mom and Pop had met some very nice young man for Kristen Catalani on the airplane. We then dashed off to Whole Foods for a quick bite before we got ready to meet up with Margo. While Pop napped, we headed to the mall and did some shopping!

That evening we went to the Oyster Bar for some high quality fried food! It was delicious. Then Margo called it an early night and headed back to the Routon's house. Mom, Pop, Rory and I met up with some of my friends at a wine bar in North Little Rock. It was a blast. Mom and Pop were introduced to the best iphone application - Words with Friends. They kept playing all weekend, it was a blast. I found out that Words with Friends considers "sexts" to be a real word. I was shocked but it got Mom 24 points for playing it!

On Saturday morning I cooked breakfast for mom and pop at my house and then we watch some Final Four highlights. Then Pop met up with Mickey and Lauren and Mom and I headed to hillcrest to do some shopping!

At 2pm all the ladies headed to Margo's Baby Shower. Julie, Jan and Sarah did a great job decorating! The cake was confetti cake... which was amazing. Baby Alford was definitely throwing a party in Margo's belly :)

That evening we all cooked out at Julie's house and watched the West Virginia coach have a love session with his hurt player. (http://www.nesn.com/2010/04/dasean-butlers-injury-brings-painful-ending-to-west-virginias-season.html)

The next day we went to church and then had a great brunch at Boscos with the Alfords and the Routons!

I hope everyone had a great Easter!

2010 Bluebonnet Brew Off

Working for a college has its perks: I still get spring break! On Wednesday and Thursday I tooled around Little Rock getting chores done that no one with a 8 to 5 job could possibly do. On Thursday afternoon Rory and I set off on an adventure to Dallas for the Bluebonnet Brew Off!
http://www.bluebonnetbrewoff.com/

It is one of the largest home brew competitions out there. Rory had never been to one of these conventions/competitions. We had no idea what to expect. We arrived in Dallas on Thursday night and grilled out with his friend Rick. The next day before we headed to the competition, I made Rory try a bean and cheese taco. He now understands what all the talk is about. Thank goodness for Taco Cabana. They pleasantly surprised me with a new dip: half ranch, half their dark salsa!

We then went to the Westin to register for the competition, where we received our tasting glass. Rory didn't submit any beers this go around, but he plans to next year. We met up with some of the other Central Arkansas Fermenters and headed to the Hospitality Suite. This was the start to a long beer tasting adventure!

The hospitality suite was open from 2-6:30pm both Saturday and Sunday. This was where they had at least 3 or 4 different home or local commercial brews on tap. We almost got a chance to judge some of the entries but the spots were already filled once we got there.

Rory and I headed for a bite to eat before the next event. From 8pm to 10pm the Commercial Brewers from around the globe were there to hand out tasters. The glass came in handy for this portion and the next. At 10pm we switched to the other half of the conference room and got to taste the home brews. Each different home brew organization had their own station. Rory is a member of the Central Arkansas Fermenters. For a while, they even let me hand out and talk about their beer. I knew VERY LITTLE about it, but they invited me to help out again in October for Octoberfest!

The next day Rory woke up bright and early to go to the Beer Tech talks. Rick and I ended up at Denny's for a good hearty breakfast! Then we went to hang out in the Hot Tub and swimming pool on the roof of the hotel that overlooked the DFW airport. Rick informed me that the DFW Airport is larger than Manhattan! I was blown away by this fact.

Once Rory was out of his tech talks we headed to an amazing sandwich shop!

Then we laid low watching movies and eating dinner until the Awards Ceremony at 8pm. Rory won a ton of hops during the raffle. He was pretty excited about it. The awards were over and then we all hung around to try the remaining beers.

Oh and I almost forgot...It snowed starting at 2pm on Saturday and was snowing for an hour of our drive back to Arkansas.

Overall, it was a phenomenal weekend. Hopefully Rory and I will be able to go back next year.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, all convention centers look the same.

It's been 4 months since my last post....so here it is!

I do apologize for not posting for such a long time. I have been extremely busy since Halloween, but I did do a few fun things in my spare time. So in no particular order I will share with you my life over the past few months!

For Valentines Day, Rory took me ice skating at the local skating rink - Skatium (they have both roller skating and ice skating)! I had a blast showing off my moves and pretending to be a skilled skater. I wish I could say this picture was easy to take. It snowed a couple of times in Arkansas. There were a few days where the wintery mix turned blizzard mid day and I happened to be at work. Michael had driven us in that morning and it looked fine, we figured it would clear up by the end of the day. This did not end up being the case, the blizzard struck around 10am. Michael and I scooted out of Conway back to Little Rock around noon, we would have been stuck in Conway otherwise :(

Below you will see a picture of my office right before Michael and I headed out of town. There are people standing on the porch shaking off their umbrellas because the snow was falling so heavy.

The next day both Rory and I were out of work. So after walking to a major intersection for some prime time entertainment where we watched cars try to drive in the blizzard, we decided to brew some beer! Rory decided to call it his Snow Day I.P.A.! It turned out to be one of the best beers he had brewed thus far. Here he is hopping with his hops!

Earlier before the blizzard, we had one week where it was freezing and the other where it was well below freezing (9 degrees one day). A few of us ventured out to Lake Ouachita that weekend. The cove near Katie's lake house was FROZEN! So we went ice skating. Katie said this is the first time they had ever seen the lake frozen over by her house. We had a blast, though I was extremely hesitant to stay on the ice for very long.

Tracing back a few more days to Christmas time, I took a picture of Mom and Pop on Christmas Morning at church! I had not been in St. Peter's since the renovations a few years back. It was very pretty. It was great to be back in San Antonio for a week. Alex, Becca and I made Christmas cookies again this year. We forgot to bring cookie cutters so they were all circles. Alex decorated this one to resemble some sort of fancy egg. You would have to ask her more about that.

In early December, the Morton family and a few more met up in Huntsville for some early Christmas festivities. We brought Jack to Santa's Village, but I am pretty sure Rory had just as much fun as Jack did. This is what Rory would look like if he were a snowman!

And before Thanksgiving and Christmas really rolled around. We found out that Sam got into law school. So naturally, we celebrated with $1 PBRs at Damgoode Pies. We beat the record for number of beers consumed in one seating. We had about 15 or 20 people there to help out. Here are the last few people there.

Here is a photo of the Hendrix Fans for the Razorbacks! The Razorbacks played in Little Rock. Here we all are at the Hendrix tailgate sporting the Hendrix "H" with a razorback leaning against it! It was a great time and a mini reunion of sorts!

So there it is! I have been busy with work but every chance I get having some sort of fun! I am just glad I don't have to wear a jacket anymore. I also might add, I am headed to Graduate School at UALR next year. I will be working on a masters degree in public administration.