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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Friday, September 25, 2009

Wedding Planning Galore!

It's been a very busy week since I last blogged.  In fact I've only made it to the gym once!  Gasp.  Wedding planning has consumed everything.

However, I think Malek and I have found a place!  There's still a couple more venues to see but I doubt it'll sway our decision.  Not going to post the venue until next week once we have it all finalized.  So stay tuned!

Once the venue is booked, I'll be able to start looking for my dress!....and invitations....

 

#15 - Cook home meal (67/143)
Malek made sloppy joes last night with tater tots.  And several glasses of wine!  :-D

Thursday, September 17, 2009

I do!

I'm engaged!  :-D

This past weekend Malek and I went to San Antonio for a mini vacation.  When he first broached the subject of this trip to me, I immediately thought "this would be perfect for an engagement!"....then immediately squashed that idea since he had mentioned a month before that he wanted to wait till after the holidays...to make sure we survived.  pfft!  :-P  Ok ...so this getaway was not going to be the 'moment', however, my mind couldn't shake the idea completely and 5% thought MAYBE!!!!

Saturday morning we ran the Keep Austin Weird 5K, in the pouring rain no less.  Actually the rain helped keep me cool and made it a more enjoyable race.  Malek ran an awesome pace, I still have a lot of room for improvement.  After the race we rushed back home to pack and headed out to SA.  Malek booked a room at the Hilton Palacio del Rio which was right on the river walk, even had a private balcony!!  Once we were checked in we headed down to the riverwalk and had a few drinks.  For dinner we decided to eat at Aldo's, one of our favorite places to dine at in Austin is Tree House Grill and Aldo's is very similar (though nicer).  After a few more drinks in our hotel room we took off for our destination.  Anyone who's been to SA knows that the highway system is less than desirable (a complicated mess!) and very difficult to navigate...after 20 mins of misdirection we finally found the restaurant.  As we're walking up to the entrance Malek grabs my hand and turns me around.  He's already down on one knee and holding a ring!  OMG OMG OMG!  "Christina, I love you, will you marry me?"  Promptly my cute little coach clutch decides to throw up its contents as I start crying and say "of course!".  Mwah, kiss, SWAK!  I put on the ring and I'm just blown away by its beauty.  Malek did good!  :-D

Dinner lasted 3 hours and was all talk of how he found the ring, how long he'd been planning this day (6 weeks apparently), etc.  So many people knew!  I can't believe they were all able to keep quiet.  Malek even asked my dad for permission!  I was so excited I couldn't even eat (yes, I know, me not be able to eat?).  We had a wonderful evening celebrating our engagement.

Sunday we had breakfast on the river walk and passed on the news to family and friends.  Then we walked to El Mercado and explored all the shops.  I bought Malek a ring since he'd been wanting a silver one....that seems fair right?  hahahaha  We enjoyed lunch at La Margarita and ate some puffy tacos to appease my brother.  Our walk back to the hotel tired us out so I took a nice nap while Malek watched some football.  Afterwards we went on a sunset river boat tour, this was a first for Malek.  It rained on us for a brief 10 mins during the tour, luckily our boat captain hid us under a bridge before continuing so we didn't get soaked.  All in all a great tour.  We spent the rest of the evening walking up and down the river walk, checked out the Liquid Monkey bar, ate at Waxy O'Connor's Irish pub, purchased some chocolates to indulge in later and then crashed.

Monday we had breakfast again on the river walk, I enjoyed my favorite eggs Benedict and the weather was perfect.  We checked out of our hotel and explored the shops at La Villita.  The copper store was my favorite, they had beautiful vases and a really cool table that I soooo wanted.  Later we headed over to brackenridge park, which was right by the Zoo!, and visited the Japanese tea garden

Couldn't have asked for a more wonderful romantic weekend!  The weather was awesome, the food was delicious and the engagement was perfect.

Yay!  We're engaged! 9/12/09   Engagement dinner at Aldos, SA 9/12/09

El Mercado 9/13/09   See the ring!

The Happy Couple 9/13/09   IMG_2902

Thursday, September 10, 2009

The low down on my remaining 101

Not sure what I was thinking with some of these items….45 out of 101 left.

6. Plant trees in back yard (Crape myrtles) – Still really want to do this…perhaps in March with Malek’s help :-)
9. Buy Christmas lights for the house - Have to get this done this year before time runs out!
15. Cook at least one home meal(s) a week [i.e. eat out less] (66/143) - I think I’m doing well with this one.
16. Actually use my bathtub and soak in a warm bath at least once a quarter. (1/11) - Major failure, just takes forever to fill up the tub with water…not that patient
22. Go downhill snow skiing - no clue if this will happen
23. Go camping at least once a year (1/3) - Keep trying to plan a time to go but the end of this year is already packed, probably have to wait till March/April time frame again.
24. Run a 5 miler - Maybe the Cedar Perk 5K in Oct….big maybe… I have run 10K’s before which is over 5 miles so technically I’ve done the mileage.
27. Buy a new bike - Sigh, maybe next year? Maybe I’ll get lots of $$ for xmas to buy one. :-P
28. Compete in a Triathlon - Another big SIGH…maybe next year
31. Go snowboarding for the first time - no clue if this will happen
32. Ride in a hot air balloon - no clue if this will happen
35. Hit golf balls at a driving range (practice practice practice) - At least I did a Scramble this year…
38. Move all my pictures from Webshots to a better online digital service website (snapfish?). - Eh, haven’t found one I like…so sticking with Webshots.
39. Print off a photo book of my online pictures. Use Webshots or blurb or picaboo?? - Yah yah yah, need to get on this one as well, I did print off about 50 pics though to put in a photo book that Renee is making for me.  :-D
40. Read more than just fiction novels/books (IP) – I decided as long as I’m reading that’s good enough. Currently on the TrueBlood series and need to read Eclipse which I just bought.
41. Clean out closets and donate clothes to charity at least once a year (IP, 2/3) - So far so good!
42. Actually use the teeth whitening kit I got 3 yrs ago – FAILURE. Still haven’t touched it, need to get on it!
44. Work out at least 3x's a week [IP] (holidays and vacations permitting) – Doing well with this one! Started running outside instead of inside as well.
45. Keep weight under (private) lbs (IP) – All I have to say is “pfft”
46. Learn to change a tire and basic car maintenance – Can I rely on “I’m a girl” and some guy will help me?
49. Go to a winery in TX or do a wine tour – This is planned for Nov for Amanda’s bday!
50. Take a girls trip – This will also be taken care of in Nov for Amanda’s bday!
52. Take a road trip – no clue if this will happen
53. Stay at a B&B in Fredericksburg – Still would really like to do this, just not sure it will happen in the 1001 day time limit. Malek and I are going to San Antonio for a mini getaway vacation this weekend though!
54. Go to the beach – We’d like to go, a friend of ours has a huge house on the beach in Port A….all about timing though, perhaps next summer.
56. Drive a motorcycle (I've ridden on them, never driven one) – no clue if this will happen
57. Do more things with my hair besides a ponytail – Occasionally I do that faux hawk look…straight or curly still seems to be about it though.
59. Floss more (IP) – Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t
63. Attend Oktoberfest in TX – Not sure I’ll make it this year yet again (conflicts)…but we plan on going to Wurstfest again!
65. Eat out somewhere new (a nice restaurant like Jazz, Truluck's, etc) [IP] (Boiling Pot 4/28/08, Truluck's 2/16/09, NoRTH 6/8/09, Louie's 106 9/4/09) – On a roll with this one, guess I could cross it off since I didn’t designate how MANY new places I had to eat at. I just like listing them. :-P
69. Take a sewing machine class – Doubt this will happen
70. Buy a sewing machine – Doubt this will happen
73. Make time for another professional massage – Oohhh, so gotta book this!  Who wants to go with me?
75. Achieve the next level at work – Again “pfft”, doesn’t seem conducive in this environment
81. Donate blood at least 3x’s a year (6/9) – Rocking this one!
82. Go on a picnic – I think this will only happen if Malek and I make it to #84
84. Swim in Barton Spring Pool – Still really want to do this, just gotta find the time!
85. Ascend all 99 steps to the top of Mt. Bonnell –  For some reason I feel like I’ve done this already….probably before I put this list together.  Like to do it again though.
86. Play Frisbee golf again – Fail, Maybe I should check out Old Settlers, I know they have one and it’s right behind my house!
88. Go horseback riding again (haven’t been in over 6 yrs) – Doubt this will happen
90. Have a beignet from Crescent City Beignets – Just like #85, I’ve actually had a beignet from CCB before, someone brought a box of them to an outdoor play we went too like 6 yrs ago. Still want to go again which is why I’m leaving it on the list.
93. Attend a sing a long at the Alamo– no clue if this will happen
98. Watch some movies off the AFI Greatest Movies list – Ha! Failure
99. Send out Christmas cards at least once during this time period – Plan on doing them this xmas!
100. [PRIVATE] – I don’t even remember what this was supposed to be….when something not on this list happens guess I’ll use it then. ;-)

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Wonderful Weekend Wedding!

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!  Ours was crazy busy.  :-)

Friday I took a half day PBA to get ready for the weekend events.  Hair cut at 10:30am, pedi at noon, then it was home to change for the rehearsal dinner.  Malek took  the kids to the rehearsal at 3pm and then I joined them at Stephen F Austin bar around 5:15pm.  After relaxing with some drinks on the terrace we headed over to Louie's 106 for the rehearsal dinner.  The food was awesome!  After the wedding party opened their gifts we headed back to Stephen F Austin bar to mix and mingle with family and friends.

Jonathan and Christina 8/4/09      Lots of Maleks and a Freund

Saturday was the first UT tailgate of the year!  Woohoo!  Everyone invited to the wedding was invited to the tailgate, Sara and Dana also reserved a block of seats at the game for those that wanted to attend.  We tailgated for about 8 hours, had some wonderful fish tacos and played tailgate golf.  Everyone left for the game around 5:45pm while we stayed at the tailgate to watch the first quarter before heading home.  All that time out in the sun just wiped us out!  I actually ran 3 miles when I got home (that nice cold front really helped!) while Malek fell asleep on the couch.  I think we were in bed by 10pm or so.  Evan and Emma actually went to the game and made it through the whole thing!  Evan came home and Emma went with the bridal party for a sleepover at the hotel w/ the Bride.

Malek and Ziggy tailgating 8/5/09      Evan, Dana, Malek, Nat 8/5/09      UT girls - Christina, Emma and Sara 8/5/09

Sunday morning Malek and I took advantage of the cooler temps and went for a run (it was 73 degrees!), then Malek mowed the lawn while I weeded the flower beds.  After breakfast, Malek took Evan to the hotel to get ready with the groom and groomsmen.  I headed on over to the RR outlet malls to see what deals they had.  I scored another cool dress from WHBM and some shirts from BR.  Malek bought new ties for the wedding.  After a couple hours of shopping we came home, ate lunch, I took an hour nap, and then we started getting ready for the wedding.  We arrived at Laguna Gloria about 5:30pm to make sure the kids were all set.  The ceremony was beautiful, albeit a bit warmer than we would have liked.  After the ceremony we had about 45 mins to mingle, drink and eat appetizers while the wedding party took more pictures.  Then we moved onto dinner.  The food was great, it was served family style on one very long table.  We had fried pickles, mini burgers, pecan crusted chicken nuggets, spinach goat cheese salad, roasted veggies, fish tacos, sweet potato fries and regular fries all with an assortment of sauces.  Next came the cake cutting ceremony and dancing!  Everyone had a great time, the night ended around 11pm when we cheered on the newlyweds as they left on trolley's to head downtown for more partying.  We didn't go downtown, it was way too late by that point and the kids needed to hit the sack.

The newlyweds 9/6/09      Jonathan and Christina at Laguna Gloria 9/6/09     101_1190

Monday was brunch at the newlyweds house.  Can't go wrong with Torchy Tacos, yummy!  After the brunch we came home to rest for a bit then headed out to a labor day BBQ at a friends house.  We called it a day around 5pm and finally came home to rest, upload pics, order pizza and watch TV.  :-D

IMG_2824

What a wonderful weekend!  Congratulations Mr & Mrs Barney!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

It's a date at the blood bank!

#81 - Donate blood at least 3x’s a year (6/9)

Malek and I donated blood today at the Dell location and then replenished ourselves with Double Daves Pizza!  :-D  Good times.