{How Bizarre}

Why am I eating my oatmeal from this measuring cup?!?

Because...the corporate housing we are staying in [for free, so I cannot complain too much] came "Fully Furnished."

Or did it?!?
~ 4 bowls ~ 4 plates ~ 4 forks ~ 4 spoons ~
They did not take my husband into account. Well, maybe they did not take me into account, it is his internship after all.
You see, Jordan is a cereal addict.
A bowl of cereal first thing in the morning & a bowl to finish off his day right before going to bed...everyday.
I cannot understand this practice.
I hate cereal.
How can he not get sick of it? The world [I] may never know.
So I am eating my breakfast from a Pyrex dish. Eh, [insert shoulder shrug] it still tastes the same.
Moving on...Do you like my pantry?
I grew up with the World's Largest Pantry, seriously, I did. My mom designed the house to have a XXX-Large place to store food. Which, honestly, was a really nice thing. No stressing over where to put all that food storage. Anyway, I grew up thinking this obnoxious size of a pantry was normal. So I find it a little bizarre that apartments come with little or no, in this case, places to store food. Oh, well [insert another shoulder shrug] the food is stored, just not very conveniently.
These things are slight quirks, peculiarities, small irritations.
Overall, I ♥ our apartment.
~ It is free
~ The washer & dryer are brand new & can actually hold large amounts of laundry
~ It is quite roomy
~ It is clean
~ It smells good
~ There is a nook for the computer (see picture below)
~ The kitchen has an island, providing adequate counter space (see picture below)
The only thing it is truly missing...my cereal loving husband from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

{ I would take Lucy & the beach too }

The Local Park

Where I come from a park is more of a retention basin to collect run-off water than it is a park.

It is watered by irrigation with a tree scattered here or there. Good for a nice game of wiffle ball. Some of these so called "parks" have playground equipment & a basketball court, which make them a nice place to meet with friends & family.

That is what I was expecting to find when we entered "park" into our navigation & zig-zagged our way to the closest park. I was NOT expecting this...Now I am confused on what constitutes a park. Is this what a park should look like or is what I described above what a park should look like? Who knows?

This park was definitely charming.
There was a very small dirt path winding through the grove of trees. A large field was located in one corner of the park & in the middle of the field was this bench.I wonder how l o n g it has been there.
I like to think it was built in the late 1960's when it was dedicated to the Great MLK, & has been well preserved since [probably not], but I don't know about that either.
Then along the side of the field was this rustic birdhouse [I want one].We had a pleasant walk around the park, but I cannot imagine a game of wiffle ball going on here. I wonder if all the parks in Austin are like this one.

30 Percent Chance of Rain

During dinner tonight, we were listening to the local news. The weatherman predicted 30% chance of rain.

Jordan says, "30% - Ha! It's not gonna rain."

I reply, "Jordan, maybe 30% means something different in places other than Arizona."

He agreed.

We grew up knowing 30% chance for showers meant - no rain. Also, that unless it was actually raining outside, the weatherman/woman never know, well, anything. [That sounds harsh.]

Apparently 30% chance of rain in Austin, Texas, means it is not only going to rain, it is going to pour down huge raindrops creating large puddles all over the roads. The storm we experienced tonight is probably an average little ol' storm for Texans, but for Arizonans it was as large as storms get. There was a seriously un-cool amount of thunder & lightning - I am not a fan. Jordan can attest that I act like a dog stranded outside during a thunderstorm, I cower with every blast of light & sound.

The storm made for a beautiful drive before it really started to come down.

That is right, we decided to venture out into the storm. The 30% chance of rain did not scare us (that's because it hadn't started until we left the safety of our home). We were on a mission. I had heard Round Rock (located just to the north of Austin) held the #1 Donut in the whole state of Texas & naturally I needed to know what all the fuss was about.

Good thing Jordan replaced the wiper blades on the car before we left Arizona because we needed them tonight. I thought for sure we were going to die, but we eventually made it to our destination & the prize my friends...

The #1 Donut in Texas: Round Rock Donuts "Original Glazed Donut"

The donuts are actually orange.
They are quite delicious - thankfully after risking death for them. We definitely needed a glass of milk to complete the experience. Next time.
Come visit us & we will take you there - just not if there is a 30% chance of rain.

Salt Lick

Jordan works with 3 other interns at Dell. They were all dying to meet me (I like to think), so they arranged an excursion today. Meet Marcus (left) & Jaraad - pronounced Jared (right). Claire is behind the camera taking the picture (with Jordan's phone I might add, explains the poor quality). They are all really nice & very amusing. They all agreed to go to the Salt Lick for some of Austin's Best BBQ, literally. It was a little bit of a drive, so Jordan offered to pick everyone up. The drive had some beautiful scenery so it did not seem l o n g at all.

The restaurant is kind of out in the middle of nowhere, but that does not stop anyone from making the drive. The parking lot is huge, almost feels like a theme park & the Salt Lick itself has had many, many additions to accommodate the large amount of guests. As soon as we exited our car, you could smell deliciousness. Then when you walk in you are welcomed by, what can only be described as {a hot tub full of slow cooked meet, living it up in all sorts of fatty juices} Amazing!!! The food was really good. It tasted different than the BBQ I am used to, but change is definitely not a bad thing in this case.I cannot believe all the totally awesome things we have done so far in Texas...& it has only been 1 week. We have for sure had a friendly welcome.

Texas we ♥ you!!!P.S. Texans are proud of their state & their country. Everywhere you see our National flag of the United States, a Texas State flag is directly underneath it. Why aren't all states this patriotic?! Certainly an admirable quality, I believe.

Friday Night At the Bat Bridge

We did not make any plans for tonight. Yet, we ended up doing a lot.

We had some Brick Oven Pizza and realized we were just about a block from the State Capital Building. So we parked & walked around. The grounds were beautiful. Squirrels ran around eating nuts they found. It was seriously like the town put on a show for us to put their best faces on [like in Funny Farm, you know?]There in the front yard of the capital building was a couple getting married! So exciting! They must have been Scottish because the men & little boys wore kilts & a there was a bagpipe playing all sorts of music during the precession - - including 'Star Wars' & 'Here Comes the Bride.'Inside the building was HUGE!!! The ceiling went on & on. Can you spot the small spiral staircase in this picture (it kind of puts the picture into perspective & give you an idea of how tall it actually is).The pictures do not do a great job at showing how Tall the inside was, but believe you me, I got the heeby jeebies standing over the edge. Look at how small those people are down there.
By the way, since we did not know all the fun things we would be doing tonight, we did not bring along our camera, so pictures were taken with our phones. [AKA...pictures are not that great.]
Then we headed down to walk along the river & explore the area a little more. When driving across the bridge we noticed hundreds of people standing along one side of the bridge, hundreds more in the park right next to the river (see picture below), & tons of kayaks & tour boats in the river.

We found a place to park & joined the group of people on the bridge. We waited & waited. Not knowing what we were waiting for. We speculated what we were waiting for, wishing some conversations around us would give us a clue. Finally, I figured it out. My friend's husband mentioned there were bats that lived under the bridge & at night they all flew out in a huge swarm.
We stood there for over an hour...N.O.T.H.I.N.G...
I wish I could tell you after all that waiting, this is what we saw...

Ha! That is what we were expecting, but apparently, not what always happens. It got way dark & we could see bats flying around in circles here & there, but no large swarm. You had to squint to see anything at all. Very disappointing. We could not believe how many people showed up to watch what we had just witnessed. Lame-O!!

I guess we are glad to have gotten the bat bridge experience over with early on in our stay.

Insanity Deserves Ice Cream

Our Internet connection is hit or miss. Today - ALL DAY - it was a miss.

This made me a little crazy. Thankfully, Jordan recognized I was about to lose my marbles & offered to take me out to ice cream (he knows the true desires of my ♥). We found a popular place in Austin called Amy's Ice Cream.

I was about to sit down inside this yummy ice cream parlor when I realized, "I am not in Mesa, it is beautiful outside, let's sit outside."

Well, we were glad we ventured outside. We walked past some beautiful fountains to this beautiful spot overlooking the sunset.

Look at all that green!!! It is beautiful here! You definitely cannot find a perfect spot like this in Mesa. There was even someone in the distance playing the trumpet, well, I might add. The park had a bunch of these marble sculptures and naturally someone needed to get a picture riding one of them (Jordan was not game).

I feel much better since I got outside of the apartment for a short while today. I really wanted to go swimming and soak up some rays, but I went swimming with my friend Jacquee & her cutie patutie, Claire, yesterday and am still nursing along a slight sunburn - you gotta start somewhere for a nice tan, right?!

Jordan is really enjoying his internship. He says whatever stress comes with working hard is soooo worth it because of all the really great & talented people he is surrounded by. He cannot believe how nice everyone is and he has been really impressed with his boss. The other 3 interns he works with are also really friendly. He likes them so much he is setting up for us to hang out with them this weekend. If all goes according to plan we will be headed to The Salt Lick (supposedly the BEST BBQ in Austin).

I have been enjoying my days (minus today) hanging out at home, making dinner, swimming, doing laundry, & catching up on some t.v. shows. Jordan was impressed when I came up with this delectable dessert...Blackberry Bread Pudding. It was really, really, really tasty.

I have also really enjoyed catching up with all the people who have called to make sure we made it here okay. I have not spent so much time on the phone since Jordan & I were engaged & Jordan was at BYU while I was in Mesa. I have felt very popular & very loved. Thank you for all your thoughts. We are having a wonderful time & taking great care of each other.

♥ Love from Austin ♥
P.S. After posting this, I noticed the date, May 27. It was 4 years ago today that Jordan & I went on our 1st date.

Ahww!!!

LOST Without You

I do not know what the rest of the world thinks, but I personally ♥ the series finale.

I did not learn anything, but I am okay with that. LOST has been one of my favorite shows. Definitly one of a kind. I will miss watching it. I found this clever note on our Aunt's blog:

How to make a sandwich on the island:

Jack

1. Gather ingredients

2. Point the gun at ingredients and shout "HOW DO I MAKE A SANDWICH OUT OF YOU?!?!?!
3. Breathe heavily through your nose as though you were about to hit ingredients.

4. Give up and make the sandwich yourself, and eat it bitterly

Kate

1. Make separate sandwiches, one with peanut butter and one with jelly

2. Take a bite of the peanut butter sandwich, declaring it the best

3. Take a bite of the jelly sandwich, declaring it the best

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 ad infinitum

5. Follow peanut butter or jelly sandwich into grave danger

Sawyer

1. Throw the jar of jelly at the wall, sneering "I don't need no sandwich"

2. Call the mascot on the jar of peanut butter lots of clever nicknames

3. Huff and puff and stomp around and grumble a lot

4. When no one's looking, make perfect, even, symmetrical peanut butter and jelly sandwich and sit in a corner, enjoying every bite

Locke

1. Sit idly by, believing that the ingredients will find a way to make a sandwich out of themselves

2. Lose faith and make the sandwich anyway

3. Realize that you were the instrument by which the ingredients chose to make a sandwich after all

4. Run around the room and grab everyone's knives, insisiting that their sandwiches will do the same in time

Hurley

1. Make sandwich

2. Eat sandwich

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 ad infinitum

Sayid

1. Procure 23 milligrams of uranium-20

2. Set hadron supercollider to eight megajoules

3. Program a sandwich-making macro using Cobol or Visual Basic

4. Act all tough-like

Desmond

1. Eat sandwich

2. Call the sandwich "brother"

3. Place peanut butter slice over jelly slice

4. Spread jelly on the other slice

5. Spread peanut butter on one slice

6. Take two slices of bread, a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly

Ben

1. Steal someone else's sandwich

2. Claim you coerced them into making the sandwich for you all along

3. Say you'll tell them everything if they make you another sandwich

4. Stare a them all creepy-like

Libby

1. Lay out plans for one of the most intricate, fascinating, and delicious sandwiches of all time

2. Just as you start making it, get shot

Danielle

1. Apply peanut butter

2. Disappear for eight months

3. Apply jelly

4. Disappear for eight months

5. Eat sandwich

Claire

1. Mmmmmmmm, peanut butter

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse

1. Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich

2. Have someone take a bite, then tell them it's a baloney sandwich

3. Make up a whole bunch of other crap, then say you had planned it all along

4. Buy a few yachts

I am going to miss these guys.

Ü