Mount Rainer

During Memorial weekend, I was stuck in bed with strep throat while Dave was in Washington climbing Mount Rainer. From the pictures below, you will agree my weekend was much easier. Dave has been training for months to prepare for the 14,411 foot mountain. He went with a guided group consisting of 4 guides and 8 hikers. Only two of the eight hikers attempted the summit and Dave was one of them. I'm very proud that Dave did not give up even though it was EXTREMELY TOUGH! At 13,700 feet the guides decided it was too dangerous to go any higher. The hike was three days long and he woke up at 1am the last morning to attempt the summit. The weather was pretty intense the entire three days...lots and lots of snow. While back in Texas it was 107 degrees!!

This picture was taken in the park before the hike...BEAUTIFUL!Dave before the sunburned, snow frozen face!
The first night they slept in a hut, but the next night that stayed in tents. He had to shovel away snow just to get inside. I love the snow frozen to his beard...glad I wasn't on this trip! 13,700 feetHere you can see Dave and another guy roped together in case one of them falls in a crevasse. This is why I was nervous for Dave to take this trip! Dave made it home safely with extremely sore muscles and a bad sunburn! I'm very proud of you Dave!

Progress on the house...floors!

We finally have new floors! They have actually been installed for a few weeks, I'm just slow about blogging. Now that school is out for summer (Hippee!) I should have more time to blog. And yes, our living room still looks like a gym. Someday the equipment will move to the back bedroom.
New front door... Formal living room...

Have I mentioned, that I don't have a kitchen? This is it!

I'm borrowing this table from my mom until we buy one. I'm thinking maybe a little, round table would look best. Until then this table is great. What do you think?

Dining room...

I'm so thankful for all of Dave's hard work on the house! We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but for now I'm pleased with the progress. Want to see before pictures? Check out this old blog post.

Big Bend National Park

In May, Dave is climbing Mt. Rainer in Washington. Therefore, he has been training for the hike. We have made two trips this month to Big Bend National Park. Each time we have stayed in Marathon and then driven into the park for the day. Big Bend is HUGE, with many beautiful trails. Dave loads his backpack up with water jugs to make his pack heavy, I just walk along (with no weight) for support. My favorite way to hike! We hike five or six miles and then come back to enjoy the small town of Marathon.

Grapevine Hills Trail...
Window Trail...
Lost Mine Trail...

One of my favorite parts of hiking is the wildlife. Between both trips, we saw mule deer, javelinas, an elk, a buffalo, road runners, and rabbits.
Our first trip, we stayed at the Marathon Hotel...

Our second trip, we stayed at the Monroe-Payne House...
Both trips we have tried to stay at the famous Gage Hotel, but it has been booked because of weddings. Luckily, we got to eat there Friday night. Dave ate a buffalo ribeye and I ate buffalo enchiladas. It was delicious and the atmosphere is even better!

Easter with the Hearne Family

On Saturday, I traveled to Graford to celebrate Easter with the Hearne family. Becuase we are all so busy, we only get together once a year. Unfortunaletly, Dave's family was getting together at the same time. Neither of us wanted to miss seeing our family, so Dave went to Gorman while I went to Graford. He is the only person missing from our annual family picture. This is the third year that we have gotten together for a picture. (I can't find the picture from '09 yet.)

Spring 2011


Spring 2010


It was so wonderful seeing everyone! I enjoyed watching the great-grandkids hunt eggs and play baseball!

It's Finally Happening...

I've been waiting a LONG time for this...

Our house had A LOT of nasty, old carpet; and nasty, old linoleum. Even our bathrooms had carpet. Dave has been working extremely hard preparing our house for new floors. The flooring guys started installing today and they finished most of the dining room. Hopefully by Friday I will post pictures of all our new floors!

Weekend in Austin

Over Spring Break, I spent a weekend in Austin with two of my great friends from A&M. Jamie and Emily are dear friends and I truly miss our time together. We all met at a camp the week before our Freshman year. We were close friends all four years. Jamie now lives in Houston and Emily lives in Austin, therefore, we only get to see each other once a year.

Emily was my roommate for three years in college.

Friday, we went on a bike ride around a lake near downtown. That evening we ate outdoors at a Mexican restaurant and enjoyed the fireworks from South by Southwest. Saturday morning, we went shopping on South Congress.

Saturday afternoon, we tried something new to us all! Stand-Up-Paddle Surfing! We listened to live music while we paddled near downtown...great views!!

All weekend long, we laughed about great memories from college! What a refreshing and fun weekend!

Speaking of Aggies...our women's basketball team won the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP last night!!! Whoop! I am so proud of Coach Blair and the girls!!

Gig 'Em Aggies!!

I'm a few blogs behind, but I had to stop and say...WHOOP!! Aggie girls just beat Stanford sending them to the National Championship game for the first time in school history! I'm so proud of my Aggies!