I did it!

I finally ran my first 5k! It's been on my life's to-do list for ages and today I was able to cross it off. And it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

I was super nervous before the race started but once I got going I was fine. And I was surprised at how good I felt when I got to the first mile. At mile 2 a woman was running next to me and let out a "woo" which was nice because I was starting to get a bit tired and that gave me a bit of a jolt. When I got closer to the end I could see Mark and he was shouting and that got me all excited. It also made me a bit emotional because I couldn't believe I was running a 5k. It's always just been something I said I wanted to try so to realize that I was actually doing it was crazy and amazing. I tried to remember everything Brielly told me as I ran across the finish line and grabbed my medal. Jeanette's early morning text message helped, too.

Now onto he next thing on my list. Maybe tour Italy or learn to drive a manual car.

 

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Formula 1 and San Antonio

So, I'm not a huge fan of car racing. Whenever Mark watches Formula 1 on TV I get a pretty good nap in but when we found out that we were moving to Houston that meant we be a few hours away from Austin and the United States Grand Prix. So I went. It was an experience.

The event is three days long. We weren't able to go on the first day since it was a Friday and we work but we left Houston Friday night so we could be there bright and early on Saturday. The thing is there weren't any hotel rooms in Austin when started looking in late Spring. We stayed about 45 minutes away in New Braunfels, which I hope we get to explore more of at some point.

Saturday was not the best day of my life. I spent an hour in line waiting to buy a $15 set cushion. Things almost got violent. But Saturday night was great! We went to San Antonio and had dinner on the Riverwalk, saw the Alamo, I wore my cowboy boots!

Sunday was race day. They did a race of just Porsches and another of just Ferraris. Those were very exciting to watch! For lunch there was a truck selling sausage and peppers. The sausage was huge! We split one and that was plenty. Most bought one for themselves and I don't know how you eat that much and still function, I would've needed a nap!

It was a great weekend. I'd do it again (now that I have my cushion). And November in Texas is a really ice time of year to sit outside all day!

 

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So much has been going on!

My mom came to visit a couple of weekends ago. Doyle came with us to pick her up at the airport and he was so excited to see her.

We brunched at Max's Wine Dive with mimosas and grits, had a little snooze, and went for a walk in Memorial Park. It was a great weekend!

Before Mom got here we saw Snow Patrol at the Bayou Music Center. I only knew a couple of their songs but I want to know all of them. They were amazing! I was laughing, I was crying. I don't think I've felt so many emotions at a concert before. Bless their hearts!

Doyle waiting for dinner

 

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Gosh, it's been a while

 

I haven't blogged in ages! Things have been busy since I started working in August. We've had a few guests so far. A couple are pictured below.

A little bit blurry

 

It was nice to have a little bit of home here. And a weird reminder that I live in Houston.

The only other things going on here is training for my first 5k, lots of knitting, and some new recipes are being tried. Hopefully I'll have some pretty food pictures soon!

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The Big Day

 

After hunting online and all over Houston our furniture is arriving! Our dining set has arrived and I enjoyed a homemade bagel(!) at it this afternoon. Our sofa should be here this any minute! Very exciting day.

The new dining set!

But anyway, I finally finished my bagels yesterday. The dough making part is definitely the harder part. Yesterday was just a few minutes of boiling and a few of baking. The only downside was picking the day that happened to be 100 degrees outside. Even with central air I was roasting! I was planning on making lasagna for dinner last night but after spending some time over boiling bagels I decided against it.

And it tastes like a bagel!

 

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And Wednesday

So I went to meet with some of the knitters in the area. I got there a little bit late and no one was there. I wasnt sure what to do so I did what I always do in those situations and I called Mom. We chatted while scoped out the seating area and then I found a woman sittins at a large table with yarn. She ended up being the only one that turned up last night but it was still a really nice time. She told me about different areas to check out and which museums to visit. It was to get out for a couple of hours and talk to a local. It made me feel like I'm becoming a part of the community.  

I had plans to post a picture of my bagels and let you know if they were a success or not but with the morning I've had I have no desire to turn the oven on. I just want to unpack another box and watch an episode of Brothers & Sisters on Netflix. Well, I really just want to watch Brothers & Sisters but I need to unpack a box so I'll do that too. Maybe I'll have bagel pictures tomorrow.

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Oh!

And a really cool thing happened at Ikea!

They have spots for hybrid cars! For those who might not think of the Prius as awesome just check me out superclose to the front door! Ok? Ok.

 

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Just Tuesday

I've decided to try making bagels. So far mine don't look anything like the ones in recipe I found on Pinterest. I'm going to need to refrigerate them overnight so we'll find out tomorrow how I did. 

Tonight I'm meeting up with a local knitting group. I'm a little nervous because I hate meeting new people by myself but I'm sure it'll be fine. Knitters are usually nice people.

 

And the proudest moment of my day was emptying another box! Well, that and getting to Walgreens without using my GPS.

 

It looks like another storm is rolling in. I have never seen storms like the ones here and I spent four years on the Rhode Island coast. Which means I spent four years underwater.

It's hard to see it but the blue sky is being pushed away by some dark clouds

 

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Furniture shopping and food

This past weekend was busy! We went all over searching for a dining set and a sofa.

On Saturday (during a huge rain storm) we looked at a table at West Elm. I love the look of their stuff but the price tag, not so much. So we left empty handed.

On our way to the grocery store we drove past a cute little deli and decided to stop and grab some lunch. I had the tastiest peach and prosciutto salad! The deli's called Relish. I'm in love.

They even made the bags look nice

On Sunday we went to furniture store called The Dump. Everything was very Texan to me. Just big and covered in leather. We eventually found a dining set we like and I'm very excited for its arrival on Friday! We also found a sofa at Ikea which is coming Friday, too. I feel like I'm going to have a million people knocking on my door. Doyle's going to be SO excited!

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Finally

We're here. We've moved in to our new apartment and I don't know where all the boxes came from. I don't

remember that much stuff coming with us!

View from the roof

Doyle seemed a little nervous when we were packing up the hotel room but he seems pretty happy here. And to add to all of the stress of moving I had a job interview yesterday. It went well and it was nice to get it overwith so I could focus on all that we have to do here.

Last night we were too tired to cook so we looked up restaurants around here and found a little Italian place just down the street. They had outdoor seating so we brought Doyle and watched the rain fall a few times while we ate our dinner.

Doyle with his Texan beer

 

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Last weekend at the hotel

This week has been good. Mark had the 4th off which was nice! It can get a bit lonely around here so it was really nice to have him around all day. We got tacos for lunch and then just hung out. After dinner we went swimming. It was a nice day.

I received an email on Thursday night from meetup.com about a group in Houston they thought I'd be interested in and I am! The group is having a meetup in a couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to it. It would be nice to meet people around here. I hate having to meet new people though. I feel like I have to throw myself out of my comfort zone. Very uncomfortable.

The only other thing going on is MOVING DAY! I can't wait to leave this hotel. I've been counting down. Actually, I downloaded an app to countdown for me! I can't wait to decorate and organize! I can't wait to start trying all the fun looking recipes I've found online! It's going to get crazy up in our new kitchen!

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We've been here for two weeks!?!

We looked at a few more apartments and we think we found one that we really like! Hopefully we'll have a nice little home to move into soon. Of course, that's just as I'm figuring out the area around the hotel. (Just found the supermarket.) I am excited to learn the area near our apartment, though. Friday we decided to drive into Houston to have dinner on the patio of a really cute pub and that only made me more eager to move because downtown is a little bit far from us right now.

I've come to really appreciate Skype and FaceTime and just video-chatting in general. I've been able to have normal conversations with everyone and it makes me feel like I'm not so far away.

And speaking of feeling far away, this coming weekend is The 4th at the Lake House and I'm sad to miss it. Next weekend is Chelsea and Dave's engagement party and I'm going to miss that, too. Once the fun things are over it'll be easier. And I do have my own fun things to look forward to and then everyone can come visit.

How Doyle spends his days

Our first week

We've made it through our first week in Houston!


Tuesday was our lazy day. We ran a few errands and just hung out.


Mark started work on Wednesday. Doyle and I went to the pool.


Auntie, Uncle Tom, and Michael came for lunch on Thursday. And they brought everything! We'll be set for a while. Doyle's even set with food and a couple of new toys.


We looked at our first apartment on Saturday and on the way back to the hotel I drove through my first Houston rain storm. The storms here don't seem to last long but it really rains!


And a couple of fun tidbits:


Doyle was almost kidnapped by a bird about 1/4 his size.
I've been called ma'am a lot.
I was able to practice a little Spanish with housekeeper.
The weekend was spent at the pool!

The guys

We're here!

Today was the final stretch! We drove from Little Rock to Houston!


We made sure to stop at the Texas Welcome Center and we had our photo taken with a cutout of the state.


Ignore that Texas is backwards



We knew we were in Texas when the car said it was 99 degrees outside! And I felt it when we stopped for lunch. I tried to walk Doyle around the parking lot of the deli and he was not having it. He had a quick sniff and then was desperate to get back into the air conditioning if the car. So was I.

Now that we're checked in to our hotel home for the month we've found the and plan on using it. Often.

Almost there!

Today we drove from Knoxville, TN to Little Rock, AR.

It rained for most of the morning but nothing too bad! It was really just a lot of driving.



Doyle didn't mind.

Our hotel put us on the 7th floor so Doyle had his first elevator ride today!

He's fearless.



There's a sushi and steak restaurant across the street so we thought we'd have dinner there and leave Doyle back at the hotel. I was a little nervous about leaving him alone because he gets a bit nervous in new places. I downloaded an app to listen in and hear how much he barks. The whole hour. That's how long he can go! So we're working on that.

On the Road

Today we drove from Reading, PA to Knoxville, TN. I have a horrible cold but an getting through it with DayQuil and wads of tissues I stole from the hotel.


The day started with some old cars driving with us on the highway.

We stopped in West Virginia so Doyle could see where he came from. He didn't seem fazed but he loved running around the pet area they had at the rest stop.

When lunch rolled around we found a Subway and ate our lunch under the shade of tree with a view of fields and hills. Doyle found a nice spot and just took it all in. I think he's trying to figure out where he is and if he's been kidnapped.

On our way to Knoxville we drove through Pigeon Forge, TN. Dolly Parton is from around there so there were billboards for Dollywood everywhere! There were also billboards for a year-round Christmas village and a museum showcasing the Titanic. Apparently Pigeon Forge has it all.

Here We Go

The movers arrived around 8:30 in the morning and it was amazing how quickly they packed everything up! I think it took us just as long (if not longer) to pack our few bags.

Mark & Doyle are ready to go!

Dad and Tereza stopped by with some lunch before our big drive. With bellies full of BBQ we packed the car and were off!


We're spending our first night in Reading, PA and we saw some interesting things on the way to the hotel. Apparently there's a restaurant in Kutztown, PA that serves pig stomach on Tuesdays. We're quite upset that it's Friday! We also saw an antiques shop with a sign out front that said "soon" so I guess the antiques needed a few more days to ripen.

The Bit Just Before

I'm not sure if moving is stressful, yet.

Some moments I think this is great since packing seems easy enough when someone else is doing it and I am excited to live somewhere else. Then I think about all of the unknowns and let myself worry. It's been a bit of a roller-coaster!

I think the hardest part is all of the good-bye's. Flowers delivered to my office from Mark and Doyle do help, though.

From The Boys!