Back to Utah - First Stop, Dallas

Much to David's devastation, August 9th marked the day we left our Austin home and embarked on our trip back to Utah.  But we had one big, important stop to make first: Becca's house in Dallas.

After a whole summer of no Becca, I was in serious need of some good quality Becca time.  So we planned to take the long route home, stopping for a day in Dallas, and then continuing up through Oklahoma City, Kansas, and finally Colorado before hitting Utah.  It was so much fun to see Becca and meet her amazing family.  They totally spoiled us!  We hit the water park for Paisley, then enjoyed amazing ribs smoked in the back yard by Becca's brother Chris, and Becca even gave me an amazing pedicure and foot massage.  Let me tell you, fewer things are more enjoyed by a pregnant woman!  Paisley had a blast playing with Becca and her family.  I think if she could she would adopt Becca's dad as a grandpa.  They got along great!

Paisley playing with Auntie Becca at the water park.

I'm just realizing now that we had such a good time there that we forgot to take a lot of pictures.  On the way out, though, we did stop by the Allen High School football stadium.  Becca and her sister told us about this $60 million high school stadium, so naturally we had to stop there on our way out at sunrise and grab a picture.  It holds 18,000 people and somehow, it is only the 5th largest high school stadium in Texas.  Nonetheless, Here she is.

Florida, San Antonio & The Offer

As mentioned in a previous post, David went to Florida for a convention to wrap up his internship.  For these 4 days, he was forced to stay in the Disney World Resort, eat their delicious food, and play on their rides.  Here are some pictures of him, hard at work.

The view from his hotel.

Oh yah, they did have to attend some meetings as well.  These were actually what David couldn't stop talking about when he came home, because the speakers were really interesting and inspiring.  The chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young, Jim Turley the owner and CEO of Skull Candy, Rick Alden, and some performers including M.C. Supernatural, The poor guy, he had a rough week.

Meanwhile, while David was in Florida, I was back home taking care of our newly broken car window and other results of our car break-in.  We got it all cleaned up just in time to go back to San Antonio for a day and meet up with my friend Breanne.  I love spending time with her.  We spent the morning visiting the different missions in San Antonio, including the Alamo.  It was really fascinating to see what these Catholic friars and missionaries built, how it affected the native Americans and others in the area, and they part it played in making Texas what it is today.

A lot of the Catholic churches built in the missions have been restored and are still used today.

The Offer

The Monday after his return from Florida was David's final day of interning.  He went in in the morning as usual, met with the partners, and received a full-time offer to return to Austin and work with the company next fall.  So, that's what we're doing!!  David is excited to start his career with EY, but I think he's even more excited to live in Austin.  In fact, he was not very happy about having to leave Austin for the next year to finish up school.  Here we go, nonetheless, back to Utah for another year of adventures.

Austin Eats: The Finale

I really have to give more credit to David for this blog.  Not only does he brighten up and make fancy our pictures and write once in a while, he also motivates me to write when my motivation is lacking.  This is no small task.  So, thanks to him, here I am after a few weeks with some things to catch up on.

Hey Cupcake.  This is yet another one of Austin's little gems.  It started out as a shiny silver trailer on the side of the road, selling delicious cupcakes.  It continues as a silver trailer, and has expanded to other locations around Austin as well.  Of course, we chose to visit the original trailer location.  The cupcakes did not disappoint.

The week before we left, there were still many places to check off on David's list of places to eat.  We chose the very best ones and David would be very disappointed if I left any of them out, so let me breeze through our last few Austin restaurant reviews.

Matt's El Rancho was sort of an upscale Mexican restaurant compared to some of the trailers we've eaten at.  Their big claim is that they make everything absolutely fresh from scratch, right there in the restaurant, including the chips they serve in abundance before your meal comes.  The freshness was evident and the food was good.

Franklin's Barbecue.  If you're ever in Austin with a craving for BBQ, and have a few hours to wait in a line for food, Franklin's Barbecue is absolutely the best.  It opens every day at 11 a.m. and stays open until they sell out of food, usually around 1:30 p.m.  If you go on a Saturday, be prepared to arrive early in the morning and wait in line until it opens.  On a weekday, you can arrive slightly later, which is why we waited till David's internship ended, so we could go on a Tuesday.  We got in line at 9 a.m. and there were two people in front of us.  By 9:30, quite a line was forming, and by 10:15, the line looked like this, wrapping around the building.

 They started taking pre-orders around 10:45 to get an idea of how many people they would be able to serve, and for those unfortunate souls who were too far down the line, they would have to come back another day.  You might be thinking, 'What food is really good enough to stand in line for 2 hours in the Texas heat with an antsy toddler for?'  And here is your answer: Franklin's Barbecue.  It certainly won't be a place we visit regularly, but we're definitely glad we stopped there while we had the chance.

The smokehouse out back.   It may not look like much, but magic happens here.

You may notice a small family in line with a little boy, sitting on chairs.  Paisley discovered this little boy in her wanderings and played with him for a few minutes.  Then, worn out from all the walking around and waiting, she climbed up on the boy's father's lap, snuggled herself into a comfortable position against his chest, and threw her arms back in a 'woe is me' manner.  I might have been very uncomfortable if it wasn't so funny.  Needless to say, Paisley's not shy.  

Franklin himself.  

And the food.  WAAAAAYYYYY too much.  It ended up serving the three of us for two days, including when we had our friends over for dinner the next day.  

Austin Cake Ball.  The day before we left, we remembered David's co-worker mentioning a place called Austin Cake Ball, and thought if we were going to try it, now was the time.  They were amazing.  Way too expensive, but amazing nonetheless.

The Break-In

Preface
As much as David hates to think about it, his internship has finally (almost) come to a close.  This week EY shipped him off to Florida, where he and all the other EY interns from this year have "training".  This means good food, Disneyworld, and apparently some meetings.  I think it will be a rough week for him.  Anyhow, he comes back on Saturday, Monday is his last day of work, and then we're off to Utah soon after!

Some of you may remember how rough it was for me when we first got here and David had to leave for Dallas for a week.  Well, I didn't feel as bad about him leaving this time, now that I know the city fairly well  and don't feel so cooped up in the house all day.  We have a pretty good routine now, plus I have some things to get done in preparation for leaving, so that should make the time pass quickly.  I was (and still am) feeling pretty optimistic, really.

The Break-In
So this morning we got ready to drop David off at the airport.  Just before it was time to leave, I went out to bring the car around from the covered garage where we park it, to the side of the apartment complex.  Imagine my surprise when I go to open the driver's door only to find this:

Shattered window, obviously.  You can even see a little patch below the
window where the cop lifted fingerprints.

That's right, our car was broken into.  The window was smashed, a whole dollar's worth of change strewn across the seat, and everything from our glove box stolen, which was basically our owner's manual, registration and phone chargers.  Whoever chose our car of all the cars in the garage must have been pretty disappointed!

The Lesson
Well, I tell this story not so much to complain - I did plenty of the the last time David left - as to tell what happened in spite of our little stroke of bad luck.  Admittedly, for a moment there I started to think things like 'Of course this would happen to us right now'.  I even found myself cursing all the homeless people and ruffians in Austin, thinking it must have been someone like that.  I know, I'm horrible.  HOWEVER over the course of the day, the following happenings helped me change my attitude:

• The maintenance workers at our apartment complex offered to take David to the airport, saving us from having to drive there with a missing window and shattered glass everywhere, and allowing me to be able to call the police and take care of things properly.  Throughout the day they continued to ask how things were going and if I needed anything.
• I never got to feel sorry for myself that I was having to do this without David, because I had family members calling all morning, offering help and keeping me company.
• The police officer who came to check for fingerprints was kind and happy, and even lifted Paisley's hand print from the car and gave it to us as a little souvenir.
• When I found out Mini of Austin wouldn't have our window in until the next day, I was concerned about parking it in the garage overnight again with a window missing for fear of any further vandalizing.    In the afternoon, I dropped off the car at Mini, and prepared to make the 1.5 hour bus trip home, plus 30 minute walk to the bus stop.  To my eternal gratitude, the man helping me offered to have a Mini employee drive us all the way home! This also saves me from having to wait there for hours tomorrow, with a sleepy toddler, while they fix the window.
• Everyone we came in contact with, whether in person or over the phone, was just extra helpful and warm.  

These things may not seem like much, but as a result what could have been a tiresome and unpleasant day turned into something quite different.  Instead, it was a reminder to me that while bad things happen sometimes, life is still good.  And while there are people out there who do bad things, I should never fall into the mindset that people are bad.  I like the way Anne Frank said it: "In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart".  I suppose if she could believe it I certainly should!    

So, at the end of this long and unusual day, I just have to say I'm grateful.  For family, for good people, for life's strange lessons, and just for the gift of life in general.  It sure is an adventure.  

The Best Date Ever and Other Fun Happenings

As we rolled into Austin two months ago, and almost every day since, I have longingly watched the people out on the lake.  There are people boating, kayaking, canoeing, stand-up paddle boarding, and even swimming.  David made his list of restaurants he had to eat at.  I made my list of things I wanted to do, of which there was one necessary item: get out on the lake.  So, this weekend, we finally did it!!

We arranged for some friends to babysit on Saturday morning.  They took Paisley to a birthday party with their 2-year-old.  It felt so weird - and kind of great, don't tell Paisley - to get out on our own!!  We rented stand-up paddle boards from a place right on the lake.  We were both a little wobbly at first, but quickly got our sea legs.  I almost forgot how great it feels to be out in the sun and the breeze, with water all around you.  When it got too hot, we just had to fall into the water to be instantly refreshed and weightless.  It was heavenly.

Being a water man looks good on David, don't you think?  I do!

The Texas Rowing Center where we rented the SUP's

After paddling, we went for lunch at Cisco's.  David had read that they had the best migas around.  I didn't know what migas was, but I was hungry.  It turned out to be a really unique Mexican place where you almost had to walk through the kitchen to get to the main seating area.  They did have good migas, along with some fun signs on the walls.

So, that was our date day.  I forgot how nice it feels to just get out and feel like a dating couple again once in a while!   The night before (I realize this post is totally out of order, but I can deal with that if you can), we went to the Texas State History Museum.  This was another item on my list of things to do, and it turns out that every Friday night they host a free live concert, and give free admission to the museum exhibits!  We were excited to see that there were several vendors there giving out free samples of things like Blue Bell ice cream, different juices, chocolates, breads, and lots of yummy things.  It was really interesting to go in the museum and sort of experience Texas history.  I could probably spend a whole day there if my time were my own.  Anyway, it was a great night!

Me and Paisley out in front of the museum.

This is my new favorite picture of Paisley.  We went for a drive last week and came across this beautiful horse and its new 3-day-old colt (hiding behind the mom).  We screeched to a halt to take a picture and a Hispanic man who spoke very limited English signaled for us to pull in.  He invited us to put Paisley up on the horse, which she was pretty thrilled with once she figured out what was going on.  So here's our future cowgirl!

This is what I woke up to the other day.  Who says having kids takes the romance out of marriage?  Just kidding, it really does, but David finds ways to make it work!

Face Painting, the Beach and the Best Sunset in Texas

This week a friend from church invited Paisley and me to the art park with her and her son.  I didn't know what the art park entailed, but now I wish I had known about it sooner!  There was a concert for kids, followed by face painting, a table where the kids could play with clay, different instruments hanging from strings for the kids to try out, and 10 cent lemonade.  Ronald McDonald even came to the event, with an entourage giving out coupons for healthy treats at McD's!  It was a blast.  

Paisley the kitty cat.  She really didn't get the concept of having paint all over her face, so I had to give her a snack to keep her from wiping it all off before it dried. 

Buddies

The first time we went to the art park Paisley was terrified of Ronald.  She ran away from him and cowered behind me, clinging to my legs.  The next week he was all she could talk about.  She went right up to him and gave him a hug, then plopped down in front of him.  Here, she is her daddy's girl. 

We finished off the day at the art park playing in the stream.  I think this was Paisley's favorite.  She slipped and slid around, so that sometimes I was worried she'd slide right down the stream!  She loved it so much that when I dragged her out soaked to the bone, she cried and cried for more "swimming".  Here, she is her mommy's girl.

Last weekend we went out to Lake Travis and went to the beach.  As far as beaches go, let's just say it's no Hawaii.  The sand wasn't so much sand as it was dirt, which made for mud once you got in the water.  And the water itself felt more like a warm bath than a refreshing lake.  But it was so nice to get out in natural water on a nice hot day.  Plus it was Paisley's first visit to the beach!  What could be more exciting?  

Paisley even got to experience waves when the boats went by, which she was absolutely thrilled about.  She shrieked in excitement and wonder as they rolled in a pushed her over.  She especially liked it when she got adventurous and started crawling out into the waves, and they would roll in and splash her in the face.  We even got light nips from some red-eared turtles out there. 

 

Yes, this is me in a swimsuit at almost 7 months pregnant.  David insisted we post this one.  It does capture my future surfer girl well.  :)

After swimming we drove up the hill the a place called the Oasis.  The main attraction here is the Oasis Restaurant where you can eat dinner while watching the most beautiful sunset in Texas, right over Lake Travis.  There is also a gift shop, frozen yogurt, art shops, and a great little candy shop.  

The view from up top with the restaurant in behind us.

The Oasis restaurant.  In case that wasn't obvious.

The view from our table at the restaurant.

Fried Green Tomatoes

The Frisco

Time is flying by!  I can't believe we only have 3 weeks left till we leave the land of many restaurants and go back to Utah!  So if you are confused as to whether our blog is turning into a restaurant review, it's because we realize our time to try a new famous, unique restaurant each week is coming to an end.  That said, let me tell you about The Frisco.  

A couple of weeks ago we ate at a place called the Frisco.  I didn't know what to expect, and I was thinking something Mexican-ish, so I was surprised to arrive and find this scene.

Turns out the Frisco is as American as they come, complete with Betty Boop introducing the menu at the front door.  It's a cute little 50's style diner, with stools along the counter where you'd expect to see people drinking milkshakes - although most of them were probably drinking beers.  They had menu items like chicken fried steak (David's choice), jumbo shrimp, and even fried green tomatoes!  We tried the fried green tomatoes for our first time ever and they were absolutely amazing.  SO GOOD. 

The best part was that the counter up front contained a large display window showcasing about 10 different heavenly pies.  Of course, we couldn't skip out on these.

 The State Capitol

Last Saturday we decided it was time to take a tour of the Capitol.  It was really interesting to hear a bit about Texas history and politics.  For instance, did you know that Texas politicians have 4-year terms but no term limit?  Rick Perry holds the record for longest time as governor, having been there 12 years!!  Anyway, the facts were interesting, but the most fascinating part was the building itself.  Here are some of our favorite pictures.

This is the view downwards from the third floor.  In the center of the circle down there is a star, and between each of the points of the star are the Spanish, French, Mexican, American, Texan, and American (again) banners, in that order.  These are to represent whose power Texas was under throughout history.  

The view upwards.  The Star has the letters "T", "E", "X", "A", "S" around it for obvious reasons.  It might also be interesting to note that the star is over 8 feet long from top to bottom (or side to side).

Us and the Capitol.

Torchy's Tacos

 As for this week's eating adventure, we decided to try a well-loved Mexican place called Torchy's Tacos.  Torchy's was started up by a guy who decided to leave his fancy executive chef job and start a business out of a trailer.  It's a real hit around here now, and we were not disappointed in the least.  There are a few locations around here now, but we chose the trailer.

This is the whole view of the trailer park: outdoors seating, covered seating over towards the back, and the trailers themselves.

The menu.  I blew this up to capture at least the titles of the tacos.  They were very true Mexican, but some of their their menu was very creative.  Take, for example, The Brushfire: Jamaican Jerk Chicken, grilled jalapenos, mango, sour cream and cilantro.  So so good.

This was the wall outside of the covered seating area.  What in the world?

The most amazing tacos ever!

And a Little Bit of Paisley

 Paisley loves to walk around in our shoes lately.  Here's a picture I caught of her while trying on Dad's orange boat shoes and her necklace from the July 4th parade.  What a rockstar.