Happy Homeversary!

Today marks two years since I bought my house. I can't believe that it's been two years! That was such an exciting day and exciting time. I remember being so proud of my self and scared all at the same time.

It truly was one of the best decisions that I've made and I love my home. Learning to share it with Carl over the past 8 months has been a great experience, too. I look forward to many more great memories in this home and exciting house projects (next up: patio!)

Kelsey also reminded me that our friendship really began to grow when I bought my house b/c we became neighbors! She's been a great friend to me and a great dog sitter to Buster. As we start our half marathon training again I feel so lucky to have such a good friend and neighbor.

Hueco Tanks

For Thanksgiving break Carl and I took a road trip to Hueco Tanks. Never heard of it? Neither had I until a few weeks ago. It's just outside of El Paso, Texas, and is a Texas state park and historic site. It's also got some great bouldering (version of rock climbing), which is what draws Carl and his friends to it. We took off on Wednesday for the 10 hour road trip. And, yes, I'm still in shock that we could drive 10 hours and still be in Texas. Sigh.

We've gotten pretty good at road trips - loading up on snacks and audiobooks. This time we also had Buster so the car was pretty packed with all our camping gear plus a small, cozy spot for little Buster.

We camped on some land of some friends of Carl's, along with about 15-20 other campers. We got in late on Wednesday and settled in and went to sleep in the tent. The temps were cool but perfect camping weather the first night. Buster seemed to adjust quite well, despite starting off nuzzled in my sleeping bag for the first part of the night.

We woke up on Thanksgiving morning (also Carl's birthday) bright and early. We had eggs, bacon, coffee (for him) and tea (for me) and enjoyed meeting the other campers and watching Buster play with their dogs. We then took off for the quick drive to Hueco Tanks to begin our day of bouldering. After a bit of a rough start for me (it's been months since I tried to climb) I finally got the hang of things a bit more and started enjoying myself. I mostly enjoyed watching Carl climb, though, because he's so good.

That night we had a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner with the other campers. It included some usual items like turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and pie (tons of pie) but also ravioli (stuffed with traditional Thanksgiving sides), mac 'n cheese and hummus (our contribution). It was a very different holiday for me but I was so happy to be with Carl.

That night the rain began and it didn't stop until late the next day. It rained pretty heavy at times and even hailed. Since climbing was ruled out the next day we drove into El Paso to see a movie and then had some margaritas (ok, the biggest margarita ever) with our friends and some local El Paso mexican food (not nearly as good as Austin's mexican food in my opinion).

Quickly our last day arrived and we got up early to get some last minute bouldering in before hitting the road back to Austin. I twisted my ankle a bit so I just watched and helped Carl out (don't worry, Mom and Dad, my ankle is doing much better).

The trip back to Austin went by quickly thanks to more audiobooks. While it was admittedly a challenging trip for me I am so glad I went. While Carl's birthday may not mean a lot to him, it means a lot to me. It was our first birthday and first Thanksgiving and I didn't want to be with anyone else. And while I don't think that I'll ever live in El Paso, I can see why Hueco Tanks is a hot spot. It's beautiful and unexpected.

Per usual, I'm reminded on Thanksgiving of all the things I'm grateful for in my life. Of course my friends, family and job are on the list. But this year, at the top of the list, is Carl. I'm grateful for his love and patience as I know I wasn't the easiest person to be around on this trip.

Movember

For those of you not familiar with Movember, it's the renamed month of November by a group of Australians who wanted to raise awareness (and funds) for men's health issues, specifically for cancers that affect men.

During this month, men are asked to grow mustaches and show their support for this movement. LIVESTRONG also happens to be one of the U.S. beneficiaries of their fundraising. So Carl decided to grow a mustache this year in support. Not only was this super thoughtful of him, it was a big decision considering he just started a new job not that long ago. But he figured he could use his mustache to launch a conversation about why he's doing it.

While mustaches aren't that rare (note: I have never seen my dad without one) they are a little less likely (without additional facial hair) in younger men. So it's been a fun month to see my colleagues and my boyfriend with facial hair that reminds me a bit of my dad, the past and overall of the fight against cancer.

Staycation

I took this week off work to get caught up on my life in Austin. I've been traveling so much this Fall that I wanted to have a few days to run errands and pamper myself a bit. I've had a very successful few days so far and it's only Monday. I've done the following:

1. Cleaned kitchen cabinets
2. Purged items from most rooms in my house -for Goodwill or Clothing Swap
3. Cleaned make up brushes
4. Made bingo boards for a Love Actually viewing party
5. Got mine and Carl's oil changed
6. Replaced my stolen (from over a year ago) social security card
7. Ran the usual errands

And the fun stuff I've done so far:

1. Got a massage
2. Took a few walks with friends
3. Saw a movie with friends
4. Went to Lockhart and ate pie (yep, they're known for BBQ but pie was the big winner this time)
5. Cooked dinner (with 3 new recipes) for Carl, Jess and Ken

And the things that are still yet to come this week:

1. Facial
2. Hair cut and color
3. Lunch with an old friend
4. Dinner with Chris and Missy (and Lucie and Audrey)
5. Carl's birthday!

And, of course, Thanksgiving! This year, for the first time since 2004, I won't be in Austin for Thanksgiving. It's very strange to me b/c I have a number of traditions during Thanksgiving week. But leaving town is all for one very good reason - Carl. It's his birthday and I said he could choose what we did. So we're driving to El Paso and camping with some friends of his. Buster's coming with us, too (that may not have been his birthday wish) and we'll have some non-traditional turkey ravioli. I know we'll have a great time. Pictures and full report coming soon.....

Family Wedding

Last Friday, Missy's sister, Becky, got married. Carl and I took a road trip to McAllen to attend the wedding. And while it was a lot of driving for one night (and an early wake up to fly to NYC), it was nice to be with Chris and the girls.

The wedding was very large (over 500 people) so I'm sure we wouldn't have been missed if we weren't there but we had a good time and I (not Carl) enjoyed getting dressed up for a night.

Lucie was the flower girl and Audrey got to wear the same adorable dress although neither were very good at posing for me.

NYC

This past weekend, Devon, Haley, Nicole and I went to NY to cheer on Kelsey who was running her first marathon. I was actually there for work, to cheer on all Team LIVESTRONG runners, but it was extra special for me that I got to see Kelsey run, too.

She has trained so hard for this, during the roughest months in Austin. She's run at 4am, weekends, on treadmills and even 17 miles back and forth underneath the Mopac Bridge (1/3 mile each way) during a torrential (the one and only) rain storm last month.

So I had no doubt she could do it!

She'd entered into the NYC Marathon lottery for the past two years and this year she got in and raised money for LIVESTRONG. And she'd never been to NYC before! How perfect was this trip?

Not only did she finish it, she exceeded her goal, completing it in 4:46 - an amazing feat! It's always inspirational to watch marathoners, but even more so to watch a friend. She knew to look for us around mile 18 and the excitement on her face says it all. She felt great and looked great. Jim and I ran with her for about a mile to give her a pep talk and distraction. I like to think that really carried her through the finish.

So not only does Kelsey continue to inspire me, but all the marathoners do. I spoke the words aloud this weekend and I'll write them here. I will do a marathon before I'm 40. That gives me almost 5 years. While I don't think it'll be next year, I'll keep you posted on 2013.

Devon and I took an extra day in NYC to relax and shop. It was so relaxing (and clearly needed) that I had the following conversation following a pedicure:

Me: 'Devon, I'm sleepy but don't know why because I've gotten plenty of sleep.'

Devon: 'Are you just relaxed?'

Me: 'Huh?'

Devon: 'Have you forgotten how it feels to be relaxed?'

Me: 'It seems that way.'

So I now confusion relaxation and calmness with sleepiness. Clearly I need to find more ways to relax.....