Christmas Time

Last year, Bryan and I didn't put up any of our Christmas decorations- mostly because we were in the middle of demolishing/remodeling our kitchen. It would have been a BIG distraction to take out all the Christmas decorations.
This year, I really wanted to decorate our home! I forgot about all the decorations we've picked up over the years. The only thing I can't seem to find is our manger scene. I have looked throughout the house, but it is no where to be found. I am sure it will pop up somewhere over the year. There are still plenty of unpacked boxes I could have stored it in thinking I'd remember where I put it. Anyways, here is our Christmas home:)

Guest Bathroom

Bryan and I remodeled the guest bathroom over the "extended" Thanksgiving holiday. We have had the tile and cubboards for a while now, but it was finding the time to remodel that became the problem. The weekend before Thanksgiving, I came out and painted the bathroom a bluish gray hue. Its definately more gray than blue, which is what I wanted (although the pictures don't show it). I usually chicken out when painting because I go for the lighter of the two- but this time I picked darker- and I really like it!

BEFORE:

Not the most detailed picture (I couldn't find any others), but the paint was a sea green that was peeling off and the cabinets...well you can see them. A lot of houses/condos in Texas have these "country style" cabinets.

AFTER:

The tile and cabinets match the kitchen downstairs and eventually the master bathroom. We kept the countertops, but replaced the faucet and bathroom fixtures. There are still minor things that need fixing; we'll get to those eventually.

Rachel's Visit

Bryan's sister came down to Texas for the Thanksgiving holiday to visit family and friends living in the lonestar state. We were fortunate enough to get 2 whole days with her sweet family. Bryan and I had not met Jonathan yet. Boy is he a chuck at 6 months! We had fun playing and getting to know the Izu family a little bit better. It's too bad we don't live closer. Thanks for stopping by!

Thanksgiving Festivities

I love the holidays- but I especially love the holidays where Bryan gets time off from school! We had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend. Bryan was done with school on Tuesday, but wanted to stay in Houston to get most of the guest bathroom remodeling finished (mostly putting in the grout and cabinets- pictures will come when the project is complete). Crazy enough, he was in Killeen by 11:59 pm-with thank goodness only one pull over- the police officer thought Bryan was a drunk driver because he crossed the yellow line. Haha.

We had Thanksgiving at the Lowery house again this year with friends from the ward. So much yummy food- fresh vegetable tray, deviled eggs, pomegranate cranberry salad, garlic mashed potatoes, turkey, stuffing, candy yams, homemade oat rolls, green bean casserole, pumkin pie, peacon pie, and pudding cake. There weren't nearly enough leftovers. We played a fun game of Wacky Six and Apples to Apples while watching Madagascar. So much fun!

We were hoping that Black Friday would produce a good gun sale- unfortuatenly never the case. We did get some $2 movies at Walmart.

Bryan and I with shy Lily Hollist
Sarah Lowery in the corner and Dave Foster posing
Katie Foster and Maranna Hollist with baby Ethan
Lily being shy again, Bryan, and Sarah in the back

I didn't get any pictures of Sarah with her husband Devon, dang it! I guess we were just over occupied with the great food.

November 5, 2009

A day I will remember for the rest of my life. I had no idea what was in store when I was floated to the Emergency Room. All I knew was there was a "disaster" in the area. I had not been briefed on the actual event. As I was walking to the ER, I felt like I was in a horror movie- passing people with blood, tears, and sweat running down their bodies.

Then I found out that a soldier open fired at the SRP building possibly injuring 30 plus people. It's hard enough when we loose soldiers abroad, but it is horrifying that they should come under fire at home on American soil. How could this be? What kind of soldier kills their comrades, their battle buddies?

Today, I had the opportunity to stand with 3,000 plus soldiers for the memorial service held in honor of the 13 fallen. I am not a big fan of Barack Obama, however, I think he gave an excellent speach at the memorial service. It was a bitter sweet ceremony- it gave closure to the many lives effected by this horrific tragedy.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. America truly needs it.

And please, remember and thank those who have sacraficed their lives for our country, so you and I can live freely.

27

We celebrated Bryan's birthday with a cherry pie and country swing dancing at Tumbleweed Dance Hall. Bryan got work-out shorts, a white collared church shirt, and his first rifle (we still haven't got it though!)

Celebration

Since my birthday fell on a weekday instead of a weekend and Bryan is a full time student, we celebrated my 25th birthday early. Well, I actually "celebrate" the whole month because it's my birthday month, but we officially celebrated this weekend!

We woke up early Saturday morning and competed in the Great Place Amazing Race sprint triathalon at Belton Lake. Most military bases have free events for the soldiers and their families because the location of most military facilities is not all that great. Can't pass up a free triathalon. We both did really well in the swim (300m), got passed by all the road bikes (12 miles) during our mountain biking event, and felt our tight legs during the run (5k). We definately prefer these to the marathons!

Bryan and I before the race. Behind is the lake we swam in.

I wanted a picture of my tatoo.

During the biking event, you needed to make sure not to run into cows/bulls/longhorns. I took this picture on the car ride home. These things are awesome!

Thats me crossing the finish line. Yes Bryan beat me, but he also had a 3 minute head start. The boys all started first which I found unfair because I wanted to smoke Bryan:) After the race. Can't you tell, Bryan has a white face and I have a red face. We are not quite sure about our official scores- but Bryan's was somewhere around 1:15 and mine was 1:24. I ranked 3rd in my age group!

After the race, we ran home and cleaned up for my promotion ceremony! Yeah! More Money! My boss let me get promoted on Saturday so Bryan could be there and "pin" me which was very nice, since she had to come in to work over the weekend. I made a sweet dish of taco salad and Texas sheet cake for everyone working that day on my unit.

2nd LT Ahlborn

1st LT Ahlborn

Yes. We do have to kiss to celebrate the special event. I am actually just happy about the extra money more than anything else. One step closer to getting out, right?

Then Bryan and I took a much needed nap. Then Bryan surprised me with some professional pictures taken in the heart of Texas. I am soo excited about how these will turn out. I am wearing my cowboy boots and he is wearing his cowboy hat and we are on a ranch with real cows and horses and barns. I can't wait!

Then we opened birthday presents. Bryan did an excellent job this year. I got my first hand gun, some books to add to my book collection, a camera, and a University of Houston Optometry t-shirt. Thanks babe!

I Love You Bryan!

P.S. Thanks everybody else for your phone calls, gifts, cards, and dinner!

Backsplash

I feel like all our house projects are finally shining through and we are seeing our good works. I LOVE our cute little townhouse now. It is beginning to feel like our home. When Bryan went back to school in August, he finished our backsplash. He has become quite the tile-er. I LOVE it.

About this time last year, Bryan had completely demolished our kitchen. I remember washing dishes in the sinks upstairs, getting food out of the fridge in the living room, and microwaving everything we ate. I am glad those days are over.

Bryan did a GREAT job though, don't you think?

Moose is Home!

Michael returned home from a 2 year mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Montevideo, Uruguay on Friday August 14. Bryan and I made the 7 hour drive up to Tulsa, Oklahoma late Thursday night to greet Michael at the airport Friday afternoon and spend the weekend with him. He had a wonderful time and loved the way the Lord directed him to the people needing the gospel in their lives at that time. Bryan's dad also went to Uruguay on his mission 40+ years ago and at the time, there were only 7 mission areas in South American. I don't know how many there are now, but I do know there are alot more than 7. Anyways, it was good to see Moose! Now he needs to go back to BYU and look for a "smokin' hot wife" as Michael would put it.

Stratton, Rebekah, Bryan, Michael, Robert and Debbie

Saving Money

Bryan has been on this kick to save more money over the summer. I am pleased with the goals he has set, plus the funny stories that make for better memories. He wanted me to write this one down for the books.

1) We needed to get our truck inspected, but the left blinker was not working, thus it wouldn't pass. So Bryan and Ryan (Whipple) decide it will be fun to take apart the steering column and fix it using some program they found online through the army portal system (ako). They rented some tools from Advanced Auto Parts and got to "fixing" it. After putting the column back together Bryan started the truck and the left blinker worked... but the steering and horn were not working at all!

So... 3 days later Bryan went back to "fixing" the steering column, turned the truck back on...

the steering worked (Yeah!), but everytime he turned the wheel the horn honked. Haha.

Bryan apparently broke a small piece while putting the column back together that could only be purchased at a Chevy dealership. Once the part was delivered, he finally fixed the truck. Now the blinker, horn, and steering work just great. It only took him about a week in a half and cost us $82. If we had taken it to a mechanics shop the truck was estimated to be around $160 and would have taken 1/2 a day. Good job honey!

2) Yesterday Bryan rotated both cars tires. It was a fun project for him to complete before school begins next week. While rotating my Subaru, the car jack bent and nearly smashed poor Bryan beneath and sliced a good portion of his finger!! He came running into the house with a bloody hand and I nearly fainted...which is ironic because I see blood every day at work. Haha. Don't worry Katie, he didn't get any blood in the house and we cleaned up the mess in the garage (which was everywhere!). No trip to the ER was needed and the cars now have rotated wheels!

3) Bryan also changed the oil on all of our vehicles. He spilt oil all over the cement and it took him nearly 8 hours. But it saved us at least $80! It's a good thing Bryan's time isn't worth anything.

Stupid Teenagers!

We woke up Saturday morning to this:

4 other cars were hit as well.  At first we thought it was the lightening that literally struck our house Friday night and fried the security system, the cable, the internet, and the electricity... but then I saw a giant rock in the bed of the truck and glass shattered all over the dashboard and thought otherwise.  Thank you teenage vandalizing idiots for making me stimulate the economy by purchasing a $200 window!

Jury Duty Summons

Monday, July 6, 2009 at 8:45 AM

as Juror No. 369

I have only been in Texas for about 15 months and already I have jury duty summons! This is crazy. It turned out to be not so bad, but still! The selection process took ALL day and I ended up being skipped over- the 2 people before and after me were picked. I must look biased or racists or maybe its because I'm LDS. Haha. Anyway, it was a criminal case and would have been interesting to watch, but by 3:30 p.m. I was glad to not be selected. Plus, get this. You receive $6 per day for reporting as prospective juror, $10 the day you are selected, and $40 per day thereafter. Crazy! I guess it really doesn't matter for me because I get paid by the Army no matter what. It was a good learning experience and definitely a different atmosphere than I am use to.

July 4th Weekend

Because we couldn't get enough of Bryan's parents in Mexico, we decided to take a trip to Oklahoma over the holiday weekend. We also killed to birds with one stone as we hauled Stratton's "new" Toyota Tacoma from Waco and visited with Bryan's brother, Adam, whom we haven't seen in over 2 years! We also figured Bryan's parents would pay for all the festivities during our visit :)

On Thursday, we went water skiing and tubing on Grand Lake with Stratton, Adam, Leslie and Debbie. I have never water skied before. It took me 3 tries to get up and then when I fell, it was like getting an enema from a nurse. Not fun! Bryan did awesome, but he is pretty much awesome at everything he does. Love you babe!

Here is the crew.

Bryan showed off during his turn.

The drive to Grand Lake.

The rest of the weekend isn't really captured in pictures. We played racquetball and swam at the YMCA, watched fireworks, picked blackberries, and ate really good food. It was a fun and relaxing visit. Thanks Robert and Debbie!

Puerto Vallarta

Bryan's parents celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with all their children and spouses (who could make it). There were a total of 12 of us that were able to make it (Debbie/Robert, Stephanie/Kent, Renae/Harold, Becky/Varden, Bryan/Rebekah, Amy, and Stratton). We sure missed those who were unable to come play. We had a blast kayaking in the ocean, zip-lining through the jungle, body surfing, repelling down waterfalls, parasailing, snorkeling, and just hanging out with each other on the beach or at the resort. Those 8 days sure seemed to fly by quickly.

More pictures if you click here.

Honduras

Bryan had a great experience in Honduras. He went with a bunch of girls from him class that flirted with him the whole time. He didn't even miss me one bit. Just messing. It was mostly girls who signed up and he really missed me lots and lots. He was able to use all the skills he was taught during his first year of optometry and practice them. He also got practice in speaking Spanish too. There were also medical students that came along, so he got to see/help out with medical needs as well. The most common problem eye problems he noted was pterigium (sun damage) and hyperopia (far sightedness). He had fun and hopefully next year he will be able to go somewhere else and take me along! I posted some pictures from his trip. Mostly they are pictures of him...enjoy!

To view more photos of Bryan click here.