Home Defense

Bryan and I just got home from a nice Sunday dinner with some of our friends from our Houston ward. It was our last night together before I trekked up to Washington so I wanted it to be special. Before we settled down to bed, I brought Bryan to the computer to watch "Provo, UT Girls" on youtube. Before we finished the clip, we here a... "pop, pop, pop" {broken glass} "pop, pop, pop". We both drop to the ground as we realize someones shooting outside our bedroom window (I promise we don't live in the ghetto). I stayed on the ground, scared. Bryan was proactive. He grabbed his phone, called 911 and our property's security guards, grabbed his 9mm and ran out the door. 5 minutes later, I finally decide to get up and scope out the damage and find the bullet.
The bullet ricocheted off the metal window thing and into our closet (the opposite direction of us). That was all the damage, which is cRaZy considering it was a hallowed .45 round. Cops showed later, took down our report and snatched the bullet. Apparently, the police were at other residents in the area for the same reason. Some one is shooting at apartments/condos/homes from the freeways and this wasn't the first time this week. Same weapon too. What a crummy way to end our last night together! We are blessed for being safe and protected that night. I am so grateful to have a husband with multiple weapons for our personal protection (never thought I'd say that). Situations like these really make you think about how precious our lives really are here on earth. I love you Bryan! Stay away from the window please:)

Sailing

Bryan can be romantic with a little push. He surprised me with our first sailing trip on a pirate ship on the Galveston gulf. It was very exciting, especially when you discover the boat naturally tips to the side. Didn't know that. I still haven't figured out the how the boat doesn't tip all the way over though.

It was a pretty windy day. I am just glad I didn't get sea sick because it was pretty bumpy. I have a tendency to get motion sick when watching 3D movies, reading in the car, and riding helicopters.
We saw a bunch of dolphins, which was a great surprise, but were never able to capture a picture.

If your wondering, Bryan didn't sail the boat. We went with 2 other couples and had a Capt. Kidd on board. He told me not to worry about the sail boat tipping over unless I saw him putting on a life jacket. Very reassuring:)

Nice picture of Bryan while the sun is setting. He really enjoyed the trip. He especially enjoyed going down below to the cabin. Apparently it was much bumpier? I knew I'd lose my stomach if I went. 2 hours was plenty of time to relax and enjoy the Galveston Bay. Highly recommended if your visiting the Houston area.

Here is a classic picture of the pirate sail boat. Loved it!

Beautiful sunset.

Last Weekend...

was the worst weekend ever to forget my camera! We had so much planned for this 4 day weekend in Houston and I forgot my camera in Killeen. Boo! But, Wicked was spectacular! I'd heard excellent reviews from friends and family who have seen it in the past. Bryan and I wanted to do something fun and different than the normal (ie. movie and dinner) and we've never been to a Broadway Musical. Serious, we haven't. I actually didn't know the story behind Wicked. Anyway, we had fun dressing up all fancy in pearls and a tux. Bryan's roommate was actually going the same night with his wife, so we had a nice dinner together and then carpooled to the Hobby Center. Our seats were actually pretty close together for not having planned this activity together. Here are some pictures of Elphaba and Glinda I stole from their web page:
Defying Gravity was amazing! Everything about it from the lighting to the music to the special effects. Bryan even enjoyed the show. He asked why this musical hasn't become a movie? If you didn't catch the clue, we loved it. Definately recommend it.

We went shooting on Saturday. I got a .22 for my birthday and still hadn't shot it. That was fun. I am way more accurate with that weapon than Bryan's .45 or M9. We also went skeet shooting. I am definately better at skeet shooting in the Provo Canyon than here on the flat terrain in Houston. I shot maybe 2-3 out of every 5. Sucks!

Then we worked on the master bathroom shower. We have been working on this project for a while. It's a good thing we have another shower in the house or Bryan would be pretty stinky in this humidity. It should look great when completed. Here are some pictures from my phone:

Bryan was mad at me because I made him take the tile off the wall and redo it. He didn't think I'd notice the 1" grout behind the toilet. It is definately noticable to me. I would rather have the tiles not match up behind the toilet than 1" grout. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but still, he knows better than that, he just needed me to tell him to fix it:)

This is the shower floor. I couldn't get the picture flipped. We will be putting a frameless shower glass on the long straight side (left side), so you just walk into the shower on diagnal short side (right side). Get it? Pictures to come when project is complete. The shower is one of our last BIG repairs. All the other stuff we want to do are just extras. Hopefully everything will be perfect and ready by next year when we plan on selling it!

Flood

We had quite the down pour of rain this past week. Bryan and I should have watched the news before we left for the movies because were headed right into the flood zone. Don't worry. We made the most of it. Instead of veering from the water, we decided to take the truck for a ride (we plan on getting rid of it in the near future anyways). This was the worst part of the flood. We actually had to get on the highway because the water was pretty deep at this intersection. The traffic was bad here because everyone wanted to take a picture. Stupid rubber neckers! ... I took my picture in the car.

We ended up going to the later showing of Knight and Day because it took us 2 hours to get to the theatre. We both enjoyed the show.

San Jacinto Battle Reenactment

I have always wanted to be in the audience of a war reenactment. It has been on my check list of life long goal (this list happens to be a pretty long list). When I found out Bryan's old bishop participated in the San Jacinto Battle Reenactment in April, I was so excited. Weird, I know. But I love crossing off goal accomplishments, even if they are small. For those who may not know, this battle ended the Texan Revolution led by General Sam Houston against Santa Anna's Mexican forces. The battle lasted 6-18 minutes long. About 700 Mexican soldiers were killed and only 9 Texans. Crazy! This is where you get the sayings "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad"- it helped rally up the Texans before the battle.

Bishop McClain is the one carrying the flag. He had an awesome role. Maybe I should make a new goal to be the flag bearer? The San Jacinto Monument is the world's tallest war monument- it stands 15 feet taller than the Washington Monument with a Texas Lonestar up top.

You can follow the story of the battle along the base of the monument.

We didn't go up top because it was pretty crowded from all the festivities, maybe next time.

Rockets

We had the opportunity to go to the Houston Rocket game (vs. New Jersey Nets) with the BYU LDS Alumni Group. The bonus was having a short fireside with Elder L. Tom Perry after the game. The entertainment was great, the crowd was friendly, and the fireside was short. He wanted to make sure we made it home in time to "prepare for our Sunday school lessons" and get enough sleep with the time change. We've never been to a professional basketball game, so this was a fun outing for us. It also happened to be Clutch's 15th birthday, their bear mascot, so they had a lot of entertainment geared toward that.

An awesome picture of us-haha-look at my buff arm.
L. Tom Perry giving his short little fireside. He is very tall.

Rodeo Houston

My favorite part about March is spring break. I didn't really get to take it off this year because of my new job/orientation, but I got a 4 day weekend! We spent our time rodeo-ing it up at the biggest rodeo ever- Rodeo Houston. Bryan got selected to ride a buck bareback in a drawing... take a look at him go!

Just kidding! It was pretty fun watching some of the greatest cowboys out there. Our favorite part was the little kids riding the sheep. When we have kids, I am totally entering them into the sheep holding contest:) Afterwards, we saw my all-time favortie male country artist BRAD PAISLEY. We had a blast hanging out with Brad and friends the Kissells!

This was Bryan's first concert ever. I wish we could have gone to more, especially when great artists like Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, Blake Shelton, and Lady Antebellum were playing and tickets were as cheap as $16! Can't wait to see who comes next year! We love you Rodeo Houston.

We Survived Hurricane IKE!

Well it was an exciting weekend for Bryan. He decided to stay in Houston to man our fortress during the storm. Some of our roofing was destroyed and we had a little water damage, but not as much as we would have if Bryan hadn't collected the leaks in pots and pans. Highway 288, which is directly across from our home, quickly filled up with 15-20 feet of water- a nice BIG river. Bryan decided to come up to Killeen LATE Saturday night, as he sat in a dark house with no air conditioning. Poor guy :( We are definitely blessed for not receiving TOO much damage! Thanks for everyone's concerns!