The Self-Timed Getaway

If I had to pick an awkward theme for our South Padre trip (that's what people do, right? pick themes for their vacations?!) it would be Self Timer. We had a lot of fun with the ole ST. I had to find random things to set the camera on, such as my car or a stubby palm tree. It was great and it totally added many points to our coolness level.

We had a good journey. We had to wait in line at the inspection station for a pretty long time (they were doing very thorough checks) I think partly because there was a high speed chase in Padre that we were in the middle of on our way out of town ... and apparently there was some illegal who injured a cop. Pretty intense.

worthy of commentary

I am feeling very guilty right now. I have used a tanning bed the past 2 days in a row. I just got back from baking my skin, actually. I hate the smell right after you tan in a bed. It's the smell of your skin having been burnt to a crisp, literally. I was getting rather pasty and just needed a "glow" for when I leave for the beach on Monday.

I still don't have a good quote for the long piece of wood that has been pictured in previous blogs. I was considering using the quote "Life is Beauty Full" from Hannah's blog, but I need something a little bit longer because the piece of wood is 4 feet long and the stencil letters I bought are only like 2 inches tall. I WOULD LOVE SOME SUGGESTIONS! I have been googling quotes for the past week and haven't really found anything that would be good for a bedroom/living room (I'm not sure if I'm going to hang it in the living room or my bedroom yet).

ALSO. B and I are making playlists for the beach trip. We're each making 4 mix cd's and he has already made two and I have made zero! I need some GOOD SONGS that are very road-trippy and also upbeat and beachy so as not to let us fall asleep at the wheel. PLEASE HELP IN THIS CONQUEST. I have made so many mix cd's in my life that I feel like he has heard all of my songs and cd's and I want him to be like "dang, katie burn me a copy of this cd."

I expect a rush of comments on this blog, considering I have asked TWO, that's right, TWO questions.

New Mexico, Part II

happy feet.

Because the lovely sky decided to start HAILING on us, we found refuge in a nearby garage. This was someone's garage to their HOUSE ... Imagine a random car pulling into YOUR garage. Yes, we were those people. This is us taking pictures inside the anonymous garage. It was scary. Those are our scary faces. Below you will see The Garage that we chose for refuge. I would say it's a prefect candidate if you're in the market for sketchy garages to hide from hail in.

We went to a bunch of cute shops (did I mention it was raining and hailing?!) and Hannah and I decided it would be a good idea to take pictures in the dressing room. We scoured the racks for some GREAT pieces. The lady at the counter was scowling at us as we went into a single dressing room together ... after we had been whispering about what to take inside. I'm sure she thought we were stealing her precious fashions. The best part about this store was that on the entrance door a sign was posted that literally said "do not take pictures in the store." We didn't see it until we left the store, but come on, how often does that actually happen??

Below, the fabulous Hannah Stewart is pictured in a lively and very fashion forward fur VEST made of the finest quality fake minx. and above is none other than yours truly (looking rather pale, I might add) photographed in a similar fur vest, red kimono, and American flag visor. These styles will be gracing your neighborhood Vogue any day now. Don't let your copy get away.

Taking pictures of Hannah and Little Ava is one of my most favorite things to do! Too bad I don't see them quite enough! I would like to let everyone in on a little secret: prior to my NM trip, I had never fed a baby! Yes, it's true. And I have another tidbit of hush-hush: I'm not the biggest fan of babies either. Don't get me wrong, they are precious and cute... and my babies (in the way way WAY future, mind you) are going to be my pride and joy ...but right now at 20 years old, I'm just like, eh, it's a small thing that cries and has to be fed every few hours. Which I actually enjoyed doing!! Ava is the sweetest thing. If and when I have a baby, let it be as cute as her. We ate at a cute little coffee/drink/dessert place Saturday night after shopping and horse races. It was called The Dreamcatcher and this is where we decided to move once we realized that the band was 3 rock hippies who didn't seem to like the idea of playing quietly. Oh, and did I mention that this cute little coffee/dessert place already had violated the city noise ordinance?

New Mexico, Part I

I had an amazing time in New Mexico. I have to say that coming back to Waco weather has not been an easy transition; the nights would get as cool as 55 degrees in NM and the days were a cool and easy 85. Coming back to 107 degree with high humidity has been a little disheartening.

disclaimer: I would like to credit all of these wonderful photos to the mad photography skillz of Hannah Bockhoff Stewart, but would like to note that I will be uploading my own photos from the trip in due time.

We got to Ruidoso around noon on Thursday, New Mexico time (we had left at 5:30 that morning from Olney) and I had to put on a jacket when I got out of the car! We went on a picnic at Lincoln National Forest for lunch - the best chicken salad ever with chips and watermelon and crackers and cheese and cold weinies (I'm not sure how the weinies came into the mix...but Hannah was talking about her weinie craving the whole trip so it was kind of ironic that they showed up in the picnic basket...nice and cold). Ava sat under an umbrella ... but the umbrella toppled over and almost hit her several times! Isaac drank a lot of Red Bull and wouldn't stop being a comedian (we named him the comedian of the group). "Red Bull gives you wiiiiiiiiiiiings."

FRIDAY: Carlsbad Caverns ... where I have not been since 1996! When I went with my family in '96 we rode down the elevator because my grandparents went with us, but this time we climbed down. It was a great workout! I forget how far down it was, but some of us (ahem HANNAH) were sore from the climb the next day.

SATURDAY: As soon as we left the house for lunch, it started pouring. Today was supposed to be spent walking around town and shopping, so this was initially a little disappointing. We dropped Ava off at the restaurant so she wouldn't get wet when we went to find a parking space, but as soon as we did that, it started HAILING! We were worried about hail damage so we found someone's RANDOM GARAGE (this was the garage for their HOUSE) and we parked under it until the rain let up. (i have pictures of this fiasco which will come later, as I have not purchased a usb for my camera yet...but don't worry, it's going to happen soon. I know all of my loyal followers are awaiting the moment). For now, you will have to settle with a picture from the restuarant: Cafe Rio. You can't really tell in the picture, but our hair was wet and our clothes were wet and our legs and feet were muddy from walking through the rain and hail.

To Be Continued...

voyage awaits

there are a lot of reasons to smile today.

1. starbucks after work.

2. finished my accounting homework after 2 hours of working on it.

3. Brian has an interview at the lab today ... yes, the same lab as me. and yes...interviews are actually held for this extremely difficult job position.

4. today is the last day of class for me this week

5. I finally and officially moved out last night. there are no more traces of me living there and i turn in my keys today after work. glorious

6. I will be in Olney, Texas in 11 hours ... and leaving for NEW MEXICO in 16 hours.

I can't wait to be in another state! I am a little disappointed that I leave on the same day that Vanessa gets back from Chicago...but I will be back shortly to see her and have a roomie reunion!

Hannah informed me today that Nini was going to bring her computer to Ruidoso for "blogging purposes" so don't worry all you loyal followers... I will have access to a computadora and I will be updating my blog and letting you all in on my mini vacation. I'm also really excited because we are going to Carlsbad Caverns and I have not been there since 1996! My parents are a little jealous that I get to go there, but I will take a couple of pictures for them.