Bo and Taylor

Good Morning!

2012-02-16T06:17:00.002-06:00

It's roughly 6:15 AM at the start of this post. I've been up since about 3AM, and since I figured it would be awhile before I go back to sleep, I might as well post. I'm running on less than 4 hours of sleep, so if something doesn't make sense or my grammar is even worse than it usually is, you'll know why.

Unfortunately we haven't had a chance to take any pictures over the last month. The weather has been gross and Bo has been working quite a bit. I think if I remember, I'll make it a priority to do that this weekend. I do enjoy seeing our progress and hopefully you do too.

We had an appointment about two weeks ago and everything seemed fine. We got to briefly hear her heartbeat again, which is always nice! At the 14-week appointment, she had to search awhile for it, but this time we found it almost immediately. In a couple of weeks I'll go for another appointment and they'll test me for gestational diabetes. I'm really not looking forward to this. I have to fast for something like 12 hours and then drink an orange-flavored glucose drink. Lately, I've been either waking up starving or having to eat in the middle of the night. Yesterday morning I felt horrible and I'm 100% sure it was all blood sugar. I should have tested it...I have a glucometer around here somewhere.

Little girl really started moving a lot these past two weeks. She's been quieter the past few days, but she's picked it back up this morning. It's even to the point now where Bo can actually feel it. He gets so excited and I'll never forget his first reaction. I'm just glad he gets to experience those aspects of the pregnancy. Overall, I've felt pretty good. Bo probably wouldn't know that because he gets to hear me whine about every ache and pain :) I have some pretty serious reflux that sometimes responds to enzymes or the occasional Tums, but other than that everything else has been manageable. I feel constantly hungry...all the time. A friend of mine, who is also pregnant, asked me if I ever got tired of eating. I said YES! I'm glad I'm not the only one. As much as I hate going to the grocery store, I find that going twice a week ensures that I have a good variety of things to eat. Having fresh eggs available is also nice. I had a great omelet a couple days ago.

I'll stop talking about food now. In all seriousness, I would like to ask for prayer for Bo. We are going through what I call a "busy season" of work. I guess this all started about a week or two ago, so we're both still a little shocked by it all, but hopefully we'll hit a stride soon. Not that it will be any easier. He's concerned he might be getting sick, which is not uncommon during these stressful times. He's such a hard worker and I'm incredibly thankful for everything he does for us. He rarely complains and despite the late nights, he's rarely crabby (unlike me -ha!).

Well I'm going to try and get some sleep before I need to wake Bo up for work. We miss everyone "back home" and will come back for a visit once our Bradley (child birthing) classes are over in mid-March!

Quick Update

2012-01-24T14:56:00.006-06:00

I've been wanting to update the blog for sometime now, but I just never seem to remember to do it when I actually have the time (I think this is "pregnesia"). Anyhow, I finally remembered and thought I would try to do a quick update. Hopefully everyone knows by now that we're having a GIRL!!! I felt all along that it was a girl and of course I had a 50/50 chance, but it's still cool that my feeling was right. We're absolutely thrilled to be having a healthy little girl!

Here she is:

As for names. We do have a name picked out, but our plan is to wait until she's here to tell everyone. I'm not giving out any hints either :)

On January 15, we started our Bradley Method classes. Basically, it's a naturally approached childbirth method that emphasizes the husband's role as the birth coach. So far I've really enjoyed it, although we haven't really gotten into the nitty gritty. Last week was the nutrition part and so that was nothing new for me :) However, we had to keep a food log and I realized that I am not eating enough, especially protein. I was really surprised by this because I already felt like I was eating all the time. Now I really feel like I'm constantly eating. I find that it's really important that I eat right before bed, regardless of whether or not I'm actually hungry. No bed time snack and little girl has me up at 4:30-5AM eating a snack. Bo even got to partake in an early morning breakfast with me at Kerbey Lane Cafe. You can get the breakfast platter for like $3.50 before 7AM, how cool is that ?!

Lately we've been really busy cleaning out the "office" and purging it of anything we don't need. Most notably, we've taken out the desk and replaced it with a giant bookcase from Ikea. The painting is almost done, the bookshelf is almost ready for books and soon we'll be able to take put everything back in there. The nursery is FULL of office stuff. Seriously, I can't walk into the room. I'm not worried though, we have just over 4 months until we need the nursery.

Lastly, I thought I would post a picture of my progress. I'm currently between 22 and 23 weeks. If I got to see everyone on a regular basis, I would not put pictures of myself like this online...so I hope you enjoy them :) We likely won't get around to taking pictures each week, but hopefully every 2-3 weeks we'll do it. Brodie sat in with me on this one, haha.

Better Late Than Never...

2010-11-15T09:43:00.008-06:00

I must apologize to our wonderful families. You all have asked how our trip to San Francisco went and I probably told you "good" and left it at that. Well, we have pictures! I'll try and do a quick photo montage. I don't know who still has dial-up so I'll make the pictures small. If you have issues viewing them, give me a ring and I'll try to help you. Otherwise, you'll see us soon and maybe we can show them then.

Without further ado...

Day 1 we got to SF and planned on seeing the Golden Gate Bridge. What we didn't plan on was being 4 miles away from it and it was Fleet Week (a huge display of planes and ships) so there were literally thousands of extra people hanging out. So we ended up renting bicycles and cycling up to and across the bridge.

Before the bridge, there was a little park full of tents and picnics. I thought it was funny so I took a picture.

Here I am on the bridge. We enjoyed cycling across, but there were quite a few snooty "real" cyclists who enjoyed giving tourists the evil eye. Cyclists take themselves way too seriously. I'm glad runners aren't like cyclists :)

The other side of the bridge was beautiful.

Here's Bo on the other side.

Sausalito is on the other side of the bridge. It's full of wonderful touristy shops and restaurants. We ate at a nice Italian restaurant for lunch. We didn't have much time to spend there before the ferry came to take us back (yes we cheated). After eating a bunch of pasta I was NOT about to bike back 4 miles!!

I have more pictures, but I think I'll try to upload those in a couple of days. Let me know if the pictures should be bigger...I uploaded them on the smallest setting.

**Edit: The pictures are pretty small. I might try making them bigger later.

Well Hello May!

2010-05-09T16:15:00.004-05:00

So I don't think it's a secret that I'm not very good at blogging. I'm trying to think about what has happened since my last post. In February, I started getting a lot more hours at work and started seeing patients at the outpatient cancer clinic. I also started taking sewing classes at the Stitch Lab (Bo's Christmas present to me). In March, we celebrated Bo's 26th birthday at Hudson's on the Bend where we feasted on a variety of wild game - it was delicious.

April was a big month. I started quilting and I got a full-time job. Yep, my first full-time job! On Monday I started orientation at the Austin State Hospital. Orientation will last another week. We've spent a lot of time learning about mental illness, intellectual disabilities and a technique called Prevention and Management of Aggressive Behavior (PMAB). I've learned so much in such a short amount of time. I find it all very interesting (and I love to learn about new things). Bo has also been doing well at work. He was commended by his manager for doing such great work that they gave him a $200 gift card for Eddie V's (and there is a choice of two other restaurants that I don't recall). He's been working hard since he started his new project, so it's nice to know that his manager recognizes his hard work.

Here is a picture of my first completed sampler block. You don't have to look hard to find mistakes, but it's my first and I'm proud of it.

I took the picture will my phone, so the lighting isn't great. (the background is my ironing board). Hopefully I'll have the previous month's block finished by the end of the week. I attend a monthly quilting class taught by a woman that I go to church with (Dolores). Each month we start another block of the quilt. I think it'll take a year or so to do the whole project. Dolores has offered to give me some instruction on a scrap quilt to work on also. This should be a nice project that doesn't require much skill. Which is nice because I don't have much of that...haha.

Where Did January Go?

2010-01-23T21:39:00.004-06:00

Well January isn't over yet, but it seems like it's flown by so quickly already. On my way to the grocery store this afternoon, a song came on the radio that brought me back to this time last year. The song in-and-of-itself isn't relevant, but it was new and very popular at the time so it was on the radio pretty much every time I was in my car. Anyhow, this time last year I was my foodservice management rotation. First off, I HATE hospital foodservice. Bless those that love it and are successful at it, but it just wasn't for me. I didn't like what I was doing, felt no connection with my preceptor (cold as ice!), and I missed my husband terribly. I don't think there are words for how much I missed being away from home. I haven't lived a very long time, but I'm going to say that was the lowest, darkest point of my life. Praise God I'm back home with Bo and even have a job! It's weird thinking about how different my life is now - just a year later.

Speaking of my job, in addition to my PRN in-patient position, it looks like I and the other PRN dietitian will be working with the outpatient cancer clinic. I'm pretty nervous, but excited at the same time. We haven't started yet, so I'll try to keep everyone updated on how that goes. We're first going to start by teaching people how to use their PEG tubes (feeding tube) and then will progress into doing some counseling and educations. There's also another opportunity that I might have. I would really appreciate some prayer for this as it's not definite that I will get it or even if I will be a good fit for it. I would love for it to pan out, though.

Bo and I started a new budget with the You Need A Budget (YNAB) software last week. I'm anxious to get this budget going. God has blessed us with educations and jobs and I think it would be in our best interest to honor those blessings by paying off our school debt! We've set everything up, so now we'll just need to update it weekly and actually follow it! Ideally, if we do it right we'll be paying the current month's bills with last month's income.

We're smoking a brisket right now. Bo bought a smoker from Craigslist awhile back and this is the second time we've used it. This is the first time we've ever done a brisket. It smells beyond wonderful. On one of our visits, Bo went down to the river bottom land and found a hickory tree that was about to fall so he took it back with him instead of letting it rot. I hope you all are jealous :)

Tomorrow our church is moving. I'm happy about this for many reasons, but the main one is that we will go back to one service. I miss not seeing everyone each Sunday. We're helping with the move because Bo is on the sound-team and I'm the hospitality coordinator. Hospitality is going to have a new set-up so I'm interested to see how this is going to work. I'm not worried about it though, there are so many people available to help and give input.

I'm not sure when we'll be in to visit next. Perhaps March or April. I know that seems like a long way off, but our schedules are NUTS! Love you all!

Happy New Year

2010-01-11T09:42:00.006-06:00

I worked the first week of January so I'm just now getting to the Happy New Year post. First of all, we had a great time visiting our families for Christmas. It's always nice visiting everyone, but Christmas makes it that much more special.

Santa came to visit Grace and some of her little friends on Saturday. She was so excited to see Santa and then once he came she was suddenly shy. I've never seen her so shy before, so it was pretty funny!

Luckily, I don't have a picture of Bo and I sitting on Santa's lap. Yep, I don't think we had a choice in the matter...haha. I don't even know what I asked him for, but I'm pretty sure I got everything I wanted :)

Over the last part of December we dog sat for a co-worker of mine. She was going to drive back to see her family in Kansas City, but decided it wouldn't be safe as they were having some major snow flurries and ice. We watched Lucy, her Italian Greyhound, for a few days while she was gone. I think it was the first time Lucy had been away from her, but she did really well. Lucy didn't care much for Cannon, and vice versa, but her and Brodie managed to get some play time in. For a dog that isn't around other dogs too much she did really well.

We didn't do anything for New Year's eve, except go to sleep. However, we went camping on New Year's day so we needed our rest. We had never been to Bastrop State Park so us and another couple from church went. It's a beautiful park, right there inside of the Lost Pines. If I get around to it, I'll try to do a write up on our camping page.

Today I'm going to start my somewhat annual "Spring Cleaning" marathon. I know it isn't Spring yet, but the house could use it and I have the time. There's always the chance that I might not have the time come Spring. Spring cleaning is a time to purge our house of the things we don't need or haven't used in the past year and re-organize. We don't have a lot of extra space in our house so it's important to only have what we need and for it to have a place. Otherwise, I go crazy looking for things. Off to clean...

Unintentional Hiatus and My New Job

2009-12-16T09:55:00.003-06:00

I lost track of time and so here I finally am updating our blog. Since most of our readers have seen us recently and will see us soon, I thought it might be pointless in updating. However, I really enjoy having a blog so I will update anyway!

Probably the main reason I haven't updated in awhile is because of my new job. I was hired by a local hospital system as a PRN Clinical Dietitian. "PRN" means that I work on an "as needed" basis. So basically whenever a full-time dietitian needs a day off, I will cover their position. There are 5 hospitals that I cover! I've been trained in at each one, so that's exciting.

I'm frequently asked what exactly my job entails. People mostly tend to think I make sure people get the right diet or that I write menus. That is a small part of my job, but not really the sole reason I'm there. I can tell you that what I love most about my job is that every day is different. It really depends on the patient. Everyone is different.

Some patients cannot eat. This might be because of their diagnosis or they might be mechanically vented, which means a machine is breathing for them. Whatever the reason is, they might need to be fed through a tube. I determine their "nutrition needs" (calories, protein, etc) and choose the appropriate formula. There are different formulas for different needs: more concentrated for those who need fluid restriction, high protein, some that a lower in certain minerals, etc.

There are also times when a person cannot be on a tube feeding. So they will be fed through their vein, so to speak. Again, I determine their nutrition needs and then determine how much amino acids (protein), lipids (fat), and dextrose (carbohydrate) to give them. This method of nutrition is very expensive, but it's cool to think that you can receive nutrition right into your blood instead of your body digesting them first! Okay maybe I'm the only one here who thinks that's cool :)

I also do diet educations. I typically enjoy doing those because I get to visit with people. Of course, not every patient wants to hear me talk about their new diet, so sometimes it's not fun. I also talk with nurses and doctors about the patients. It's a team effort, which I like.

When I make my recommendations to the doctors, I have take the diagnosis, lab values, medications, past medical history and of course the patient's personal needs into consideration. There's seriously not a day that goes by when I don't learn something new.

So there's a brief overview of what Taylor Wingo, RD, LD does as a clinical dietitian. The RD stands for Registered Dietitian and the LD stands for Licensed Dietitian. The RD is what I studied my rear-end off for and is a national designation. The LD is a state of Tx designation and I had to take an exam over the state laws of my licensure. Both licenses require continuing education and of course a yearly fee! That part is pretty much the same with any other health professional with a license.

Our Vanagon

2009-10-12T11:57:00.009-05:00

I've been quite busy the past week and a half, so of course I didn't feel like posting. This past weekend we went to the Christ Church Retreat out at Genesis Ranch in Fischer, Tx. I think we both had a great time and are looking forward to next year's retreat.

This November 18 will not only mark 25 years of life for me, but will mark 2 years of us being the proud owners of our 1985 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia. We acquired this big fella from my great uncle, Tom, who graciously gave us a steal of a deal.

This is us picking the van up in Houston. U-Haul said that our truck wouldn't be able to tow the van, so we had to not only rent the tow-dolly, but rent a U-haul truck as well. The Westfalia is a camper, complete with two (small) beds, a stove, refrigerator, sink, and a ton of storage space.

After sitting in my uncle's driveway for a few years, never being cranked, the van didn't run. Bo and I helplessly tried to push the van down the driveway and up onto the tow dolly. A neighbor saw us and felt sorry for us, so he offered to help. We're not stupid, so we accepted his offer. I'm pretty sure we would have been out-of-luck had he not helped us out.

Once we got to our house we realized even more how gross the "the thing" looked. Swamp thing would have been an appropriate name for the van, instead of Westfalia. Houston is really humid so it had moldy stuff all over the outside and the inside too. We decided it would be in our best interest to wash it up a bit so that the neighbors wouldn't hate us. At this point we'd only been in the neighborhood for 6 months, so we were still in the getting-to-know-you phase. All cleaned up with the side door open. Not bad looking, eh?

Bo started working on the van when we got it, but we had to stop while I was gone for my internship, for financial reasons. Now that we're not having to pay rent and all of the gas bills from traveling back and forth, we've started back to fixing it up. Progress will continue to be slow until I find a job and we have two incomes again. I'm excited about this and hope we'll be able to go on vacation in our little camper someday.

The camper with the "tent" popped up. This is how you access one of the beds. I think this looks really bizarre, but I like it!

This is the refrigerator. Above you can see the stove on the left and the sink on the right. How funny is that?

Bo's first goal is getting the van "inspectable." At least this way, we can legally drive it to get something fixed if Bo is unable to do it himself. Otherwise, I think we would have to tow it there. One of the more costly items will be tires. Apparently it needs special, heavy-duty tires. Hopefully that will be the most expensive thing it needs! Of course, I'm not going to leave it all to Bo. My plans are to clean up the curtains and carpeting. The seats are in exceptional condition, thankfully! The carpeting needs some TLC and at least this way I have a valid excuse to purchase a little steam cleaner :)

Los Dos Wingos

2009-09-24T09:25:00.002-05:00

I've been procrastinating a bit on updating because I haven't felt that too much is going on with us. However, if you're here then surely you notice our new look. It was a collaboration between Bo and I with the help of a template that I found online. I hope it doesn't take too long to load for our family with slower connections. Please let me know if it doesn't work for you and we'll work on a solution.

The biggest news going on around here is that I have applied to two jobs. Hopefully I will hear back soon. I'm so excited and ready to finally be working as a Registered Dietitian! It just seems like it's taken so long to get to this point. I'm sure there are many great candidates for the job, so I'd appreciate your prayers that I can do the best I can if I get an interview. I've always wanted a job doing something I like and at this point in my life I know that is clinical nutrition. What I like about the clinical aspect of nutrition is that you never know what is going to happen. Every patient is different and you don't always have that "text book" patient, so it can be challenging.

Other news around the Wingo homestead is that we finally got the Hackberry trees that were leaning over our privacy fence removed. One was little, but the other one was a normal sized tree. It had started to rot and was infested with mistletoe. Anyhow, the guy who cut it down put a ladder up on the tree, climbed up and started cutting limbs down. He was WAY up there, no harness, no hard hat, nothing!! I'm glad I was inside because I was panicking. Bo took a picture, but I don't have access to it right now. He didn't hurt himself so I was very happy about that. He and his associate finished in two hours. I figured it would take much longer. This weekend will be spent moving the tree branches to the curb so the city can pick them up. Twice a year they do large brush collection for free, otherwise it would cost $100. So we timed that nicely, although it wasn't originally intentional. I think we'll post the wood on craigslist as "free firewood."

I never thought I would enjoy the home improvement process. I will confess I hated painting, but the difference is amazing! I prefer landscaping, oddly enough. Once we finish with our backyard I think it will be nice. It's a mess right now, no grass, stumps awaiting removal, and a chicken wire fenced garden. Overtime, all of that will change and I think it will be just how we want it. Now I just have to figure out how to keep the mosquitos away so we can enjoy our backyard more often. Any ideas?

Introducing Our Newest Addition

2009-09-09T10:13:00.003-05:00

Meet...Duke of Earl aka Cujo aka Rabbit Claus, "Brangelina" for short.

Yes, yes I know what you're thinking, "What's with all the names?" Bo and I couldn't agree on a name, plus I'm not sure if it's a boy or a girl. Usually we call it a he, just to make it easy on us. I am able to pick him up, but the thought of turning him upside down scares me. He seems to be happy here. I think his cage (that he came with) is a little too small, but Bo is eventually going to build him one. Once I make up my mind what I want it to look like :)

Yesterday when I took this picture of him, I think it upset him. He thumped at me, peed and then flicked it on me. NOT COOL. If it wasn't a cute little bunny I would have hit him on the nose or something. So I won't be invading his territory with my iPhone anymore.

I'm not sure what breed he is, but I'm thinking part Lionhead? He's not near as fluffy as some of the Lionhead rabbit pictures I've seen online, but he has the ring of hair around his head. So my best guess is that he's a mutt-bunny. Dad, do you know? From what I understand the American Rabbit Breeders Assoc does not recognize the Lionhead breed, so maybe you've never heard of it. Dad used to raise and show rabbits for those of you wondering...haha.

QUESTION: What do you think we should name him/her?

Labor Day Weekend and New Beginnings

2009-09-07T20:47:00.003-05:00

I can honestly say that this is by far the best weekend we've had in a long time. I'll start with Thursday.

As most of my family, facebook friends, and fellow small groupers know, I passed my RD exam on Thursday! After waiting three months to be eligible to take my exam (long story!) and then losing Oma right after that, I finally took my exam and passed (on the first time yay!). I'm just looking forward to this fall. God-willing I hope to find a job soon and be able to move on a bit in life. I'm just finally happy to be a Registered Dietitian!

Friday was a day of rest. I was so exhausted. I don't remember much from Friday, but I know I felt insanely tired.

Saturday Bo got this amazing deal on a planer. Home Depot (or DeWalt) was phasing out a particular model, in order to replace it with a cheaper one. Anyhow, I think he ended up saving 75%. He had to call around quite a bit to find one and eventually drove to Pflugerville, but I'm happy that he seeks out ways to save money especially for things that are considered to be good quality. Also, I got a rabbit! I haven't taken any pictures of him/her, but I will. I *think* it is a lionhead or lionhead mix. He's not as fluffy as some of the lionhead rabbits I've seen pictures of.

Saturday night we went to Driftwood Vineyards and enjoyed our friends' band Clay Roof Rising. We also had the opportunity to get to know more of the people in our church since we go to the same church as Annie and Adam. It was a great night, with a beautiful view of the vineyard, great wine, food, conversation, and of course, music!

Sunday we were bulletin greeters at church. I think Bo and I are getting better at it and I hope we'll eventually know who the new people are. We still feel kinda new, as we've only been going since April, and we sure haven't learned everyone's names. However, we feel incredibly blessed to be a part of Christ Church.

Today we slept in, although Bo would argue that he could have used a couple more hours :) We packed Brodie up and went to a local park for a cookout/picnic our church had. I was surprised at how many people came. Again, we had the opportunity to hang out, chat and get to know people better.

Tonight I plan on finishing up my resume and I'm curious to see what tomorrow brings with my job search. I'm so thankful for such a great weekend and I'm looking forward to the rest of the week!

Another Weekly Weekend Post

2009-08-31T09:37:00.004-05:00

I'm starting to see a trend here with the weekly weend posts. This weekend was pretty busy as we had somewhere to be Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday we went to The Oasis, which is a restaurant west of Austin on Lake Travis, to celebrate a church-friend's birthday. The food was mediocre and over-priced, but the view was amazing.
I forgot my camera, so I used my iPhone. The phone's camera is actually good for a phone, but of course it just doesn't capture the sunset like a regular camera. It's just awesome how many colors there were in the sky as the sun went down.

Saturday I went to a brunch with some of the ladies from church. I enjoyed getting to know everyone just a little bit more. It can be difficult being the "new person" in a group because most of the people have known each other a lot longer and go out and do stuff together. So I always try to go to any get-togethers because that's really the only way I'm going to get to know anyone. Bo went to some garage sales that promised to have "lots of tools," but of course they were either already sold or someone had no clue what "lots of tools" means. Afterward we went to REI and bought some folding camping chairs. We have some lawn chairs that we've had for about 5 years now they're starting to look unsafe to sit in. This go 'round we opted to get the kind of chair that folds up and goes in a bag. It will be SO much easier to pack and carry to the car camping sites that are not close to the parking lot.

Sunday we had to get up early for a meeting. We were asked about a month ago to be bulletin greeters and this was an orientation of sorts. Then we had to rush over to church before the meeting was over to be greeters. I enjoy getting to say hi to everyone before church, I mean literally everyone! I think Bo likes it to. He has to open and close the door, so his right arm gets quite the workout. Bo is also running sound about once a month and I have signed up to help with the children's ministry. We've both been blessed by being able to serve our church and I'm looking forward to what God has in store for us in this capacity.

Today I have to study. I'm taking my exam on Thursday so any and all prayers are greatly welcome. I'm nervous of course, but I feel prepared. There are a few sections that I don't feel great about, but if I do what I'm supposed to be doing I should be able to straighten those out without a problem before then. I really need to get some good sleep this week. I started having some serious insomnia problems last week, but Saturday and Sunday night I actually slept. I have a feeling that Friday will be massive clean the house day in the Wingo-household.

Wicked

2009-08-27T09:52:00.004-05:00

Last night Bo and I saw the musical Wicked. This was our first musical to see together and I think it was Bo's first musical ever. Anyhow, we both enjoyed it. As both of my parents know, I've been a huge Wizard of Oz fan since a very young age so when we heard that Wicked was coming to Austin, we just HAD to see it. I like the Wizard of Oz story better, but this was great. Wizard of Oz is coming within the year so I know we're going to see that, right Bo?

On a completely unrelated note, Bo and I had health screenings at his work this morning. I'd like to report that we're both healthy. We had a glucose test (mine was fasting, Bo's was not because he ate on the way), total and HDL cholesterol, blood pressure and BMI. If I could change anything right now, it would be to exercise more. We were walking the dogs a couple of miles each night, but we haven't done the the past couple of weeks. We've been pretty busy, but we should try a little harder to fit it in. I'd also like to start running again in the morning, but until I can get out of this insomnia phase I won't be getting up early enough to run. The insomnia thing comes and goes. Hopefully it will go away soon and stay away for awhile. Exercise would probably help that actually.

Happy Thursday!

Lazy Sunday

2009-08-23T19:36:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went to the Zilker Botanical Gardens for their annual Bamboo Festival to try and find some bamboo for our backyard. We didn't buy anything partly because bamboo is a LOT more expensive than we thought it would be and also because we're not 100% on what variety we need. I have a general idea, but I think I'm going to wait until November to start looking again.

After that I worked on a pasta salad for our church potluck, and Bo changed the oil in his truck. I'm glad that Bo changes the oil himself as it saves us both time and money. I think the one (and last) time he went somewhere to have it done it took two hours. I guess everyone in Austin gets their oil changed at the same time. After I made the pasta salad, I went and worked out in the garden. Mostly just prepping it for a fall garden. I still haven't decided what I'm going to plant, but it won't be much. I think I'll plan more for next spring.

I've been trying to talk Bo into letting me adopt a rabbit. I played with the rabbit at my mom's house and I just fell in love with it. We had rabbits when I was very young, well we had a rabbit ranch, so I'd say we definitely had more than a few. Maybe that's why I like them. I don't know, they're interesting animals. I've been researching cages so Bo can build me something if we agree on a rabbit. It'll probably be a couple of months though before we decide.

This coming week will be busy! Perhaps I'll update more throughout the week since I'll actually have something to blog about.

This Past Weekend

2009-08-18T09:56:00.002-05:00

I wanted to post yesterday, but I never got around to it. My RD exam is coming up in a couple of weeks so my life has consisted of not getting around to many different things...other than studying of course!

Our weekend was pretty quiet. Saturday we helped some friends move out of their old apartment and into a new one. That took up most of the morning, and with triple digit heat we were exhausted afterward. We napped most of the afternoon! We love our Saturday naps.

On Sunday Bo put a shelf up in the utility room for me. Eventually, I think he has plans for cabinets, but that will be awhile before we do that. I had originally asked for a small shelf off to the side, but we started talking and I ended up with a long shelf across the back wall. That's usually how it works. I have an idea, we collaborate, and BAM! I have something way better than I ever imagined. We have great synergy.

It's amazing how a $9.00 shelf from Home Depot can completely transform a room. Before the shelf, I had to store stuff on top of the washer and dryer, which means that every time I needed to use them I had to move something to push the buttons. Not only do I have more room, but it looks much more organized and clean. My only complaint with this house in general is that it came with ZERO storage space. Sure we have some closets, but none of them contained shelving of any kind. The people who sold us the house, flipped it and for some reason thought that shelving (or storage of any kind) wasn't necessary for a house. Anyhow, that was nine bucks well spent.

Kombucha Tea

2009-08-12T10:19:00.007-05:00

A couple of days ago I mentioned I was making kombucha tea and that I should explain a little more about kombucha in the future. Well today is the future. I should mention that there is a giveaway over on Kelly the Kitchen Kop's blog which spurred me to do this (I get a free entry by blogging about it!). I'll explain more about the giveaway further down in the post.

Simply put, kombucha is fermented tea. To ferment the tea you have to have what is called a SCOBY, which is an acronym for Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeasts. Here is a picture of my current brew:

Looks pretty gross, huh? That SCOBY is at least 1.5 inches. They don't have to be that thick, but I store my extras together, in what a lot of brewers call a "scoby hotel" and they continue to grow.

The process involves brewing tea, adding sugar, and then adding the scoby and some previously brewed kombucha tea to the cooled tea and sugar (if you want my recipe let me know). About 10 days later (depends on the temperature of your house), I have a tart, bubbly drink. Sometimes I add fruit juice or fruit to the final product, re-ferment it and have a wonderfully flavored carbonated wine-like drink. It does produce a small amount of alcohol, but it's not much maybe like .05%.

Besides enjoying the refreshing taste of kombucha tea, I also benefit from the many different probiotics that are created during the brewing process. I don't remember how I first heard about Kombucha, but it was probably when I saw a commercial product at the store and tried it. I was instantly hooked (Bo took a little while to get used to it). I drank about a bottle a day for a month and then realized at almost $3/day this was not incredibly economical. I quit drinking it for awhile and noticed that my IBS symptoms started back. It wasn't until I stopped drinking the kombucha, that I realized I was actually benefiting from it. I just drank kombucha because I enjoyed it, but once I started feeling badly again I began doing some research to see if I could make it myself.

I bought my first scoby off of ebay for $6, I think. The cool thing about kombucha is that each time you brew it a new scoby forms on top of the tea. This way you can eventually have multiple brews going on or share with friends and family. It's so rewarding for me to share my extra scobies.

I've recently been seeking out/learning about other various fermented drinks and foods. There are tons of possibilities out there, amazingly. Fermented foods and beverages contain probiotics which are healthy bacteria for your digestive tract. Yogurt is probably the most popular example of a fermented food. mmm. Don't forget sauerkraut and pickles...mmm.

Earlier in this post, I mentioned the "Cultures for Health Giveaway" over at Kelly the Kitchen Kop's blog. In this contest, you can enter to win three different start cultures. The choices are yogurt, buttermilk, water kefir grains (aka Tibecos), kombucha, and a sourdough starter.

If I win I would choose the water kefir grains, sourdough starter and probably the yogurt starter. I've never tried water kefir, but I've heard you can make different flavors and it satisfies that want for soda and is equally refreshing. I love to make my own bread and it would be awesome to make a nice sourdough.

I could honestly go on and on and on about the benefits of probiotics and fermented foods. If I did today this post would never end. However, in the future maybe I'll post about one thing at a time. I learn better when I'm not bombarded...haha.

Family Visits

2009-08-10T12:24:00.002-05:00

The past two weekends we've had my side of the family over visiting us. Two weekends ago, my dad and step-mom came to visit and this past weekend my mom, stepdad, and two sisters came (we missed you Nathan!). Dad didn't stay long so I wasn't able to cook for him and his wife, but this weekend I was able to cook, with Bo's help, lunch, dinner and the next days breakfast. I'm not accustomed to cooking for more than two people so it took longer than I expected to make the meals, but I had a ton of fun. I really enjoy cooking!

I don't think we have too much planned for this week. I have some stuff I would like to accomplish, but other than that I think we'll have a pretty quiet week.

Currently, I'm making Kombucha Tea and I'm about to study. I should do a post soon on Kombucha Tea, as I can probably say with confidence that most of my readers have never heard of it, unless I've mentioned it around them. Maybe I'll do that soon.

We're Going To Be Frank

2009-08-06T21:11:00.003-05:00

Actually we're still the Wingo's (not Frank), but I think this postcard is rather frank and frankly that's why I love it:

This care was on Post Secret a week or so ago and I instantly related to it. I've never sent a card in, but it feels good to come across ones that I could have sent it. Perhaps it's a little crude for some of you, but I think that's just kinda how it is. We're supposed to know stuff and deal with certain aspects of our mates that no one else does, right?

Anyhow, a couple of months ago Bo went in for a routine dental appointment and was referred to an oral surgeon's office to have his palate evaluated. Our dentist explained that it was probably nothing to worry about, but his palate was whiter than usual. Basically his "normal" palate color might not be the "usual normal." Confusing you yet? Just to be safe though he went ahead and referred him. My heart pretty much melted when Bo told me. All he told me was that it was a different color than it should be and I knew exactly what that meant.

There was a possibility my husband could have oral cancer.

Today we went in for the evaluation and the doctor said it looked fine and that his palate is just higher and lighter than usual, but that there were no indicators that anything was wrong and there was no need for a biopsy.

What a relief.

The thought of losing my husband (and incredibly very best friend in this world) was terrifying?sad? I'm not sure there's a word for it. I just prayed and prayed that nothing would be wrong, as selfish as it may seem. I do believe that God would take care of us and provide for us regardless of the outcome.

I hope that this card comes true, as crude as it may be.

2009-07-28T21:57:00.002-05:00

Bo and I got in yesterday from visiting family back in East Texas. Most of the time was spent either decorating Grace's birthday cake (picture later) or preparing for Oma's celebration. Both events were a success.

Yesterday when I got home, I decided that I would rebel against what I "should" do, which was unpacking my car. I really do not enjoy unpacking my car after a trip. So, I procrastinated and instead decided to start cleaning the garage (see I told you I hated unpacking the car). I quickly came to the conclusion that our garage was never going to be organized without storage. We've gotten to the point where we've accumulated stuff, but it's all sitting on the garage floor.

When Bo arrived home we decided to go to Chipotle and then go to Home Depot and Lowe's. We found a 6-foot, 5 shelf rack thingamabob for our garage. I even helped Bo put it together! It's amazing how that one shelf makes the garage actually look like a garage. I'm excited. I'm thinking next month we should get another one for the other side. Bo has this thing with keep certain items together on a particular side of the garage. It's his garage so I suppose it matters if he knows where all of his stuff is.

I just had a shake from Sonic and now I'm tired. I really should lay off the sweets...uh.

Celebrating Life

2009-07-22T15:01:00.002-05:00

It's been awhile since I last updated. Honestly I haven't known what to blog about.

For those readers who may not know us, my grandmother (Oma) passed away July 12. I had left Austin a few days prior to that to be with my mom at Oma's side. It's a moment in my life that I'll always remember albeit an incredibly sad moment. I have many more thoughts and feelings, but I don't find the internet an appropriate outlet for my feelings. For some it's appropriate, for me not.

I'm finding myself somewhat worn out today. We're celebrating my sister's 4th birthday this weekend and I'm making her cake. It's been close to a month since I finished my Wilton technique class and I haven't been able to practice since then. I'm hoping the cake turns out nice. I'm going to keep it simple so I think it will be okay. Being hunched over decorating is a bit tiresome. I did a practice run yesterday and while it tasted oh so fabulous, the icing was not stable enough at Texas room temperature. I've found another icing recipe that I think tastes good, but it's not as out-of-this-world as the former. That's okay though. I'm going to practice on it tonight, get Bo's help and opinion and then get my final plan in stone. I'll make everything tomorrow: cake, icing, decorations, etc and assemble/decorate early Friday morning and then go back to East Texas. I'm excited.

We're also having a Celebration of Oma's life on Sunday. Those of you who read, I would appreciate prayers of peace at this time. Although we'll be celebrating her life, our hearts are still broken and it's going to take some time to heal. She'll be greatly missed.

Housewide Organization

2009-07-02T11:09:00.002-05:00

I feel like our entire house is a disaster.

If someone came over I would be pretty embarrassed. However, we're trying to pull things out that we don't need and donate them to Savers, Goodwill, etc. Our office is in great need of being organized. We have tons of electronics, books and office stuff that is just piled up. And then there's the box of computer parts that Bo has set aside for "e -recycling" at Goodwill. FYI: don't throw your old electronics/computers/gadgets in the garbage. It's bad for the environment, not because it adds to landfills, but because they leach harmful chemicals and heavy metals. You can google recycling electronics, to find the nearest donation center near you.

So we have this box of electronics/computer parts. Bo filled it up about a week ago and I haven't taken it yet because the Goodwill that takes the "e-waste" is up north. I should have taken it last week because he's started digging through it and last night we (I helped unscrew stuff...) started building another computer. So while we're in the process of getting stuff out of the office, we've started putting the same stuff back. However, I think he has a legitimate use for the computer (or so he tells me) so I guess it's okay.

I've experienced similar feelings myself. I'll get a box of clothes, kitchen stuff, or whatever packed up and sometimes it will sit for a week or two. Then I'll see something I put in there and think oh "I might need that someday." Or what's worse is when I have donated something and then find it at the thrift store and want to buy it again. I have yet to do re-buy anything, but I have experienced donaters remorse. I hate clutter so I have to constantly remind myself that if I don't get rid of the X that I haven't used since we moved in then it's just something else I'm going to have to clean around.

I do need a method to this madness. Do people normally do a once-a-year "Spring cleaning"? I thought the perpetual deep cleanings were the way to go, but I feel that it makes the house a perpetual mess. Any advice givers out there?

Anniversary Post

2009-06-30T09:22:00.006-05:00

Well I've been wanting to write this post for a while now, but for some reason I've been putting it off. I've been busy so that's probably why. I'm still learning how to use this efficiently so I think the more I use it the easier it will be for me to post. We're almost done with the redesign as well.

Our 5th Wedding Anniversary was on June 12. We wanted to do something special because we don't usually do anything other than dinner. We decided to go camping at Colorado Bend State Park. After we made our reservations I discovered this zip-lining place outside of Austin, and since Bo had never been before we decided to do that too! So we had camping booked Thursday and Friday (11th and 12th) and then had zip-lining scheduled for Sunday the 14th.

If you want to read about our camping trip, go over to our camping page.

After church, we left for Cypress Valley Canopy Tours in Spicewood, Texas. We signed up for the regular zip-lining course, the challenge course and made reservations to stay in the Lofthaven. Yes, we stayed the night in a tree house! After they give you a little school in how to zip-line, you start off by zip-lining off a building. Although it was hot that day, you're under the canopy so it isn't too bad. They also provided water throughout the tour. During the tour, the guides also talk about the flora and the working ranch surrounding the course. The people who own the ranch and Cypress Valley Canopy Tours seem to be very environmentally conscious. They use wind power, solar power and do rain water harvesting. The guide said the total bills for the ranch are $120 a month. That's close to our bills. That's just amazing.

The challenge course was separate and well challenging. You really had to concentrate on what you were doing or you would fall. Bo was doing it like he was born an acrobat or something. He really loved it, which surprised me because I was afraid he wouldn't. I enjoyed it, but was constantly reminded of how little upper body strength I have. I need to start using my weights again.

At the end, the guides took us to zip-line to our treehouse. They parked our car near the treehouse and there was a footbridge there so we could get to our car and the bath house without having to zip-line - haha. We had a little picnic, played some cards and then woke up to the sound of birds in the morning. It was incredibly refreshing and I hope we go back in a couple of years. To see more pictures, click here. There are some really funny ones!

Anniversary and Cake Decorating

2009-06-11T09:06:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow marks 5 years that Bo and I have been married. How amazing is that?! I'm not surprised, as I never had my doubts, but I can't believe it's been that long. I guess the saying is right, "Time flies when you're having fun." We're going to have a fun weekend and I'll post pictures and a write up when we're back!

Last night I started my first Wilton Method cake decorating class. It was very basic last night as it was the first class, but I'm excited nonetheless. I've already learned a lot in that one class. First off, I now know that the reason I have had a hard time icing cakes in the past was because my icing was too stiff. Cake decorating is definitely not an intuitive subject for me. Bo is going to benefit from this class as well. For the remaining classes (there's 3!), we have to bring an iced cake that is ready to decorate. That means for the next three weeks we're going to have a cake. So I will definitely be sending those babies to work with him because I will eat them ALL. haha. My mother-in-law decorates cakes and I think this is where I got the decorating bug. I'm so excited about this! I'm already considering taking the fondant and gum paste course because the class itself will be cheap (because of July specials) and the instructor said that the materials were the most expensive of all the courses.

Anyhow, I'm now going to see what else needs to be done as far as getting our gear ready for camping (we're technically backpacking). Even though we keep all our gear in one spot, it can still take a while to get it all packed. I also have to get the dogs' packs ready too!

And before I forget: the couple I mentioned in my last post is doing well. They were worried that she wouldn't have a viable pregnancy and so far it looks good. They'll be going back in a couple of weeks to the dr to check for a heartbeat. Continued prayers on their behalf is much appreciated. A guy in our group emailed everyone in our small group this prayer from the Anglican Book of Occasional Services and I think it is such a beautiful prayer for this situation. Their names have been added:

"O Lord and giver of life, receive our prayer for Keri and for the child she has conceived, that they may happily come to the time of birth, and serving you in all things may rejoice in your loving providence. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Blessed are you, Lord God. May this time of pregnancy be for Keri and Rob months of drawing nearer to you and to one another. Amen."

Garden Woes

2009-06-09T21:11:00.003-05:00

So this morning I decided to mulch my gardens with some leaves that I've been saving for quite some time. Of course, this is something I should have done a while back. Mulching helps keep the roots cool and slows down evaporation. This way you save water! It gets so hot here, so this is a very important aspect to water conservation. I chose the leaves as mulch because they were free. I've also purchased mulch before so if you don't have leaves, straw, or stuff like that you can always buy it from your local home/garden store.

Now to woe part. This morning I noticed a couple of onions that were on top of the soil. I'm not talking about the ones that look half-in, half-out (normal I think) - these were completely pulled out and resting on top of the soil! I picked them up and put the small guys in my weed bucket for safe-keeping. Fast-forward to this evening. Bo gets home and he's out there looking and says, "It looks like some of the onions have been pulled out." There's like three more that have been pulled up! I'm convinced it's a squirrel. Apparently this is not uncommon. They've already dug up my basil. Anyhow, I can use the onions, but they're certainly a lot smaller than I had hoped for.

I put the dogs outside in hopes of keeping the varmits at bay, but I just can't bring myself to put them outside during the hottest part of the day. They have shade and water, but I just can't do it. We have an insulated garage so they stay in there part of the time, in the house part of the time and outside. They're also both black so that makes it even hotter for them. Cannon I think can completely cool himself, but Brodie is part Boxer. With that short snout of his he can't cool down as efficiently as Cannon. Google brachycephalic dogs if you are more interested.

Also, we have a couple in our small group that is pregnant. I don't know what is going on exactly, but they need some prayer. It sounds like something could be wrong. She has already had one miscarriage earlier this year. I can't imagine what they are going through, but I can at least pray and ask other prayers on their behalf.

2009-06-08T10:59:00.002-05:00

On Friday, I painted our accent wall. It's some sort of red color, but it looks great. I'm going to do another coat and hopefully it won't need another. We used a tinted primer to help prevent the paint from looking pink, which is supposedly a common issue when painting white walls red. If we have to do more than two coats it's not an issue (as we have a whole gallon for one wall), but it's kind of a pain in the butt. It isn't pink looking (thank God!), but I can see through it somewhat. We still have to do the trim work. We primed everything at once, but I somehow still managed to get paint under the tape so I'm going to have to re-prim some spots. Luckily it's just small things so I'm not expecting it to be too time consuming. I didn't think the whole project would take as long as it has, but I also didn't expect to be so busy with church activities. I think it's a fair trade off.

Saturday we went to Schlitterbahn for Bo's annual company picnic. We had a pretty good time considering it's geared more toward families. There's plenty to do without kids, but it seems like you would have more fun if you had kids with you. Part of the day, we hung out with some good friends of ours who have three girls and that was a lot of fun. We also did some river floating within the park. It's really cool that they incorporated the Comal River into their attractions. I enjoy the untreated water aspect, as the chlorine is drying and smelly.

Sunday we went to church and that's about it. I think we were tired from all of the sun on saturday. It's good to have days where you don't do a whole lot. We try to keep a balance so we're not too tired or not too lazy. This is an art.

This week is going to be equally busy as last week, so I'm not confident we'll wrap up the painting project this week. I'm hoping next week will be the end of it!

Painting, continued

2009-06-02T10:20:00.003-05:00

So I didn't make as much progress as I hoped to yesterday because I started painting around 7:30 PM. I have been trying to do better with cooking dinner vs. ordering out so this is why we got a late start. I have to say it was worth it though.

Anyhow, my neck HURTS. Is this normal with painting? It would make sense considering I have to look up when doing most of the painting, but geez I wonder how long it will take for it to go back to normal. We won't be painting tonight because we're hanging out with our small group, but tomorrow I'll be able to work some while Bo is at a friend's house building his workbench. Thursday we're gone to another church related meet-up so Friday we'll both be working again. I think we can get the main walls finished on Friday. Trim will have to wait until next week. I had the unrealistic goal of being finished by now. That's okay because our schedule wasn't initially this busy. Honestly I'd rather be busy meeting up with friends :)

Right now our dogs are in a stand-off with a squirrel. The squirrels enjoy stealing my strawberries, but the dogs do an excellent job of scaring them off. This one particular squirrel just doesn't want to give up. He's been in the same spot up in a tree for nearly an hour chirping at the dogs. It annoys me when the dogs bark and run along the fenceline, but in this case they're protecting our food so it's okay. That last sentence sounds a lot more humorous than I intended - haha.

Painting

2009-06-01T08:56:00.003-05:00

Wow, our house is pretty much a disaster zone. Not so much because I haven't cleaned, but because we're painting. So all of our furniture and cans of paint are in the middle of the living room. It's driving me crazy. We're right at week 1 of this project. We went to Lowe's on Memorial Day and bought everything and started priming that night. I think if we weren't so busy during the week we would be done by now. The entire project includes our two hallways and our living room area (which is pretty big). The main hallway was not fun painting. There are like 5 doors in that hallway and I quickly learned that I don't particularly like painting around door frames. I think it's also a psychological thing because you spend so much time in the hallway and it doesn't seem like you did a whole lot, whereas in the living room I feel like I'm making quick progress. Anyhow, I'm hoping we can finish up the project next Sunday evening. We have places to be Tuesday and Thursday and Bo will probably be gone Wednesday.

I'll try and take some pictures once we're done. My sister helped me pick the colors out. I had the general color scheme and she told me which shades would be appropriate. She's very talented in decor and color so I trust her. So far, so good.

Well that's enough boring paint talk. Happy Monday.

Muddy Buddy

2009-05-27T09:49:00.002-05:00

I have been holding out on updating in hopes of posting some pictures from the Muddy Buddy. I don't have the pictures from our camera uploaded (Bo has to do it on his computer), and I need to buy the ones from the website.

Most of you probably haven’t heard of the Muddy Buddy so I’ll explain it a little. It’s an adventure race, which means that it has two or more different activities. This race included running, mountain biking and then some obstacle courses at each switch point. The course was between 6 – 7 miles. Bo started off on the bicycle and I started running. The first switch point was a rock wall. After that I got on the bike and Bo ran. It keeps going like that until you get to the end. The person who gets there first waits on the other one, and then you swim through a giant mud pit together. It was cold, gross and, well, a little fun.

I think we ended up coming in somewhere around the middle. We didn’t want to use this race as an actual competition, but rather an introduction to what adventure racing would be like. We enjoyed it and have since talked about doing more. We’d like to do some that included kayaking, canoeing, orienteering, etc. Our biggest challenge is getting up in the morning to work out before it is too hot. I’ve found that we’re more likely to work out if we do it in the morning, rather than going after Bo gets off work. We just need to get up earlier than we have been.

We enjoy being active because it not only gives us something in common, but it’s healthy. Hopefully we’ll be able to continue doing stuff like this even when we have kids. I can’t imagine not. I don’t think I’ll be strapping a newborn to my back to go run a marathon, but I imagine we’ll find ways to include kids in our adventures. At least in Austin, I've seen runners pushing strollers, hikers with their little ones in carriers, bikers also with the carriers, etc. It’s going to be a while before we have to worry about any of that though…haha.

Meal Planning

2009-05-12T16:35:00.003-05:00

One might think that after being married for almost five years I would have meal planning under control. It's kinda come in phases, where I'll do really well for a couple of weeks and then just not do it for like a month. Obviously, it's much cheaper to cook at home than to dine out every night.

Over the course of our marriage I've worked up quite a nice collection of cookbooks. I've done my best to donate the ones I probably wouldn't use and to hang on to the ones that have recipes that actually sound both tasty and feasible. Today, after studying for my RD exam, I spent sometime writing out a menu and looking through some cookbooks. I forgot how much I actually enjoy looking at cookbooks. I have quite a nice collection, it's sad that I haven't used it more than I have.

My mom gave us a Vitamix for Christmas. I've had such a great time making ice-chunk free smoothies with it every morning that I decided I would try another recipe. I want to try the hummus recipe in the recipe book that came with it. I don't know if I'll get around to it this week, but the ingredients are definitely on the shopping list. If you can't tell, I LOVE cooking/kitchen related gifts. I'm seriously pumped about making hummus. Probably more than I should.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a craving for some sort of orange flavored chicken. Not necessarily the Chinese dish though. I had a whole chicken, but I didn't want to bake it - it's too hot for that. So, I grilled it. I found a recipe in a barbeque book mom gave me a long time ago and went with that. I cut the chicken in half and marinated it in white wine, fresh orange juice, and butter. Then I grilled it and some potatoes. It was amazing! Here is a picture of it:

I was actually surprised at how golden the chicken came out. I'm guessing it had something to do with the butter in the marinade? Trying new recipes is also an exciting part of meal planning, at least when they turn out like they're supposed to.

Well I better go and get ready for our small group meeting.

Monday, Monday

2009-05-11T22:44:00.004-05:00

For a weekend at home, we sure had a busy one. Saturday we went to our church's picnic. We kinda felt weird because we don't have kids and it seems like everyone else of child-rearing age had children there. However, we did have a good time. It's been a long time since I've been around that many kids at one time, so I think I just kinda got a little freaked out. Saturday night we went to the birthday party of Bo's coworker. We knew maybe two people there?

Sunday we went to church, went to lunch with some church friends, then Lowe's, Natural Gardener, Chipotle, and Home Depot. We didn't get home until 7 PM. I'd rather be out and about all day, than be bored though. We spent the remainder of the evening outside cleaning up our backyard. It doesn't even look like our backyard anymore, which is a good thing...haha.

Today we went over to another of Bo's coworker's house, and while the guys worked on workbenches, I played with his three (precious) little girls because their mom was out. It seems like lately I'm finding myself playing with a lot of little kids. I like kids. People (family and strangers) have recently been asking when we're going to have some of our own. I don't know the answer to that question. I definitely want them, I just don't think I can be that responsible yet. On a good day, I'm lucky to remember to feed the dogs. Anyhow, we played for a couple of hours and eventually we even had the guys making whistles out of grass. It was really funny.

Bo is watching Operation Repo. It's not real, but he still likes it. I don't know why...

2009-05-06T15:14:00.003-05:00

Last weekend, Bo and I went back to Canton/Edgewood to visit our families. Bo actually went down to continue building a cabin that he and his brother have been working on, but due to the rain, I'm pretty sure nothing got done. Since I would probably be in the way of building I just go visit family and friends while they're working. This weekend happened to be First Monday weekend, so of course I had to go shoppping. I only spent $9, which is pretty amazing considering that some people fill up entire trucks and trailers with their purchases. I bought a pitcher from a pottery place and a small Celtic cross. I'm in the process of decluttering our house so the thought of buying stuff was not incredibly appealing.

I almost forgot to mention that Cannon had a tumor removed. Our vet, Dr. Kipp Wingo, had biopsed two lumps of Cannon's about a month ago and wasn't sure about one of them. Anyhow, the results came back and it isn't anything to worry about. Cannon didn't even seem fazed by the operation when I picked him up. They take such great care of our dogs! As soon as we got to my dad's house he took off running. I don't think I was supposed to let him do that...oops.

I was going to post some pictures, but I'm not sure how to do it yet. I'll hopefully get Bo to show me this evening. I'm trying to post them directly from Picassa, but I'm not sure if I'm posting them from my computer or from the internet. Does that make sense? It doesn't to me, haha.

Long Time No Update

2009-04-28T21:53:00.004-05:00

So we haven't updated since June of 2006. Honestly, I think we had forgotten about this site until many of our friends started blogs here at blogspot. We often forget to update our family (or forget who we told what) on our latest happenings so we thought it would be a good idea to update it.

I (Taylor) have some ideas as to how I want to blog to look and feel. Once I have everything designed, hopefully Bo will be able to make it happen. However, I don't know how long it will take so please bear with us and the plain site.

Not too much going on. We actually just got back from a picnic at Zilker Park with a our "small group" from church. We also played Bocce Ball, which neither of us were too great at (but neither was anyone else). Nonetheless we had fun! Small group is usually Bible study, but today I think everyone needed a break. There a a few teachers in the group and they're all dealing with the TAKS test. Apparently it's just as tiring (if not maybe more, from what it sounds?!) for the teachers as it is for the kids.

That's all I have for now. Hopefully I will have some pictures to add next time!

Back from camping at Padre Island National Seashore

2006-06-02T10:42:00.000-05:00

We returned from camping at Padre Island National Seashore this weekend. We had a great time getting away for the Memorial Day weekend. If you want to read about it, head over to WingoCamping.blogspot.com.

We have a camping page.

2006-05-25T14:02:00.000-05:00

We have started a blogspot to chronicle our camping trips. For photos, notes about our trips, our favorite locations, go to WingoCamping.blogspot.com.