"This will be an easy project"

That is a statement I have learned to never believe when Marc says it :) Marc and I really enjoy working on projects around the house, nothing is more satisfying than a finished home improvement you have done yourself, but I have learned that nothing is ever as easy as it seems. But there always seems to be some project we want to take on and over the last month the project has been finishing off the backyard.

This has been a hot summer leaving me wondering why I ever moved back to the South and questioning if there is any good reason to go outside unless I am walking directly to the pool during summer. So how Marc talked me into actually doing manual labor in the middle of a hot summer day, not once, but twice, I am still pondering. The pride in the finished product is the only thing keeping me from never stepping foot outside again and from refusing to ever enter Lowe's again. For now I can claim that my sunburn and muscles are still damaged from this project so we have to wait a while longer until we think of anything else to do. Not to mention this last month has really completed our backyard and we can't think of much we want to change :)

This all started out with a trip to Lowe's to pick up some pebbles for the walkway to the backyard. The walkway is made up of dirt and a light layer of red rocks and tends to collect water when it rains so I wanted to put in a thick layer of pebbles to make it look a little cleaner. While we were at Lowe's picking up these pebbles some patio stones caught Marc's eye. Once we put the picnic table in the backyard the grass underneath it died immediately and he had been wanting to put a patio underneath to make it look nicer. The plan was to wait until it cooled down but all of a sudden instead of going home with a few bags of pebbles we were going home with about 100 bricks, patio sand, and a flattening tool. We moved the patio table dug up all the dead grass and started flattening out the area and measuring. At this point we realized we had calculated wrong for patio pattern and needed more bricks. So we laid down what we had and then returned to Lowe's to pick up a second batch of bricks and to pick up the pebbles we had originally come for. In the end it was a relatively "easy" project that produced a result we were quite proud of. But the fact that it was at least 100 degrees out, there is no shade in our backyard, and those bricks have to be carried one by one into the backyard tainted my definition of easy. Not to mention the hassle we had trying to get rid of the dirt we had dug up. We broke our trashcan loading it into the trash can, found out the trash won't pick up dirt, and ended up spending the next afternoon throwing it over our very tall back fence one shovel full at a time. Despite all that, here are the results of one of our oh so "easy" projects:



Oh and here is the project we actually intended to do:



After being so happy with the patio underneath the picnic table we decided that the next weekend we were in town we would put one underneath the grill, where again all the grass had died. It was such an "easy" project why not right? Plus Marc had somehow forgotten my very stern claim that I was doing no work in the backyard until it was cool out ;) So this weekend we headed back to Lowe's picked up the same patio stones and a few extra bags of pebbles. We had decided we liked the pebbles so much we wanted to place them around the air conditioning units. To our surprise we had gotten grass to grow there but found that it looked a little unhealthy and was hard to maintain, so we decided to dig up the grass we planted and lay down pebbles for a cleaner look.




So after many sore muscles, way too much sweat, a few good sunburns, many hours, and actually not too much money we have completed our backyard and are so happy with the results. And once it gets a little cooler out we will make sure to sped many relaxing hours out there grilling out using the awesome grilling skills Marc was taught by the grill master himself, my dad. There is something so much more satisfying about the fact that we did it all ourselves, I cannot wait to spend time out there. Also I have decided that instead of continuing on in science I will be applying to work for HGTV. Just kidding ;)

The finished Product:



And here are a few pictures of Romo and our little house guest Otis enjoying the backyard a few weeks ago :)

The Red Sox in Dallas

For Marc's birthday this year I got him tickets to the Red Sox vs. Rangers game in Dallas, and last weekend he finally got to make use of that birthday present.

Saturday morning we drove the 4 hours to Dallas/Arlington and enjoyed a fun and unbelievably hot day of sports. The Texas Rangers ballpark is actually in Arlington right down the street from the Cowboys stadium so after we checked into our hotel, which was walking distance from the ballpark, we grabbed lunch at Boston's Sports Bar and then walked over to the Cowboys stadium to check out the pro shop while it wasn't overflowing with people because of a game. To our surprise it was still quite crowded with people taking tours of the stadium, but unlike on game days you could actually walk comfortably through the 3 levels of Cowboys goodies :)

We wanted to be at the Ballpark in time to watch the Red Sox batting practice two hours before the game so after our visit at the Cowboys stadium we walked over to the Rangers Ballpark. The recreational area of Arlington including Six Flags, Texas Rangers Ballpark, and Cowboys Stadium is quite nice and everything is definitely within walking distance but there is no shade in sight and that day it was over 100 degrees. By the time we got to the ballpark I was ready for some water and ready for some air conditioning, but unfortunately that wasn't happening. We got to the Ballpark a little early and ended up waiting outside the gates for about an hour before they lined us all up at the only gate they open ahead of game time and had us wait in line for about 30 minutes before they actually let us in. We probably wouldn't have minded the waiting, but Rangers Ballpark is the only stadium I have every been to in my life where there was not one vendor selling water, food, anything outside the park. For that hour and a half there was no water in sight and by the time they let us all in they had a very hot and annoyed group of fans. Next time we go to a game there we will have to remember to bring a cooler full of water, because they are missing out on a huge money maker, by the time they lined us up I would have paid about $20 for one bottle of water.

Despite the heat and the waiting we finally made it into the Ballpark and once we had each had about 4 $4 bottles of water we had a great time, even though we never got the air conditioning because it is an open Ballpark :) We got to get right next to the field and watch the Red Sox batting practice which was exciting, I had never been that close to the field before. And I even "caught" a ball during practice. OK, I didn't actually catch the ball, we had just gotten inside and Marc and I were standing in the middle of the stands when a Ball came our way with no one else around and rolled right to me. It was my first ball at a baseball game, so I was pretty excited! After a couple hours of watching batting practice we headed to our seats which were about 12 rows up right behind home plate. They were awesome seats and we were so thankful they were actually shaded the entire game, because much of the park was not. While we were waiting for the game to start we noticed Clay Buchholz standing in the Red Sox dugout signing stuff and Marc suggested I go over and get my ball signed, thinking there was no chance that would ever happen I ran down and stood there just to see and to my surprise he actually signed my ball! Another first for me :)

We had already had quite the day by the time the game started and it only got better! It turned out to be a great game and the Red Sox won it in the 9th. It was exciting to watch the game so close, it is really a whole different experience, you feel like you are right there in the game. After the game we walked back to our hotel and were so happy we didn't have to make the drive back to Houston like we usually do for football games. We were sunburned and exhausted and getting to head right to the hotel after was quite the treat, ending our fun day on the perfect note.


Waiting outside for the gates to open. Marc decided to take a little nap while I calculated how much longer I could survive without water ;)



A few shots of the Red Sox up close and personal at batting practice



The view from out seats :)





Go Red Sox!

Changes

I spent last Thursday through Saturday in Roanoke, Virginia and just wanted to put a quick post up of the pictures. Lately there have been a lot of changes happening around Baylor Medical College due to financial difficulties and as a result lots of labs are moving. Quite recently I found out that my Lab PI who has been at Baylor for over 20 years is moving in October. Although we knew changes were happening you can imagine that this came as quite a surprise. My lab will be moving to Roanoke, VA where a new medical school and research institute are being set up in partnership with Virginia Tech and the Carilion Clinic. At the head of this new institute is the previous chair of our neuroscience department here at Baylor.

http://www.vtc.vt.edu/research/

So our lab took a few days to go check out the new lab. It turned out to be quite a fun trip that felt more like a family vacation than a work trip. We ate way too much good food, checked out local area, drove through the blue ridge mountain area and even worked in some pool time. Roanoke is a cute small town and an old railway community that is slowly growing with the construction of this medical facility. And although I won't be moving there it was a nice chance to see the town and bond with the lab.

As you can imagine, this change creates a few obstacles in my future plans. This has been hinted at for several months so I have had time to think about my options. Things will be changing for me because I cannot continue as a graduate student working in my lab without moving to VA, but I am looking at this as an opportunity for me to find a career. One thing that isn't changing is my passion for the field of Neuroscience and the medical field. I sort of fell into graduate school because of my desire to continue in the field of neuroscience after working in a lab I loved for most of my undergraduate experience, but I was always unsure of what direction I would take when I was finished. I love my work in the lab but always knew that I didn't want to spend the rest of my career at the lab bench, instead I wanted something to bridge between my passion for the science and my enjoyment in working with people. Taking this all into consideration I have made the decision to graduate with my masters early. Moving with the lab would of course mean moving to Virginia and would possibly extend my already 3-4 years left because of the time it takes to disassemble and reassemble a lab like mine, and not moving and staying would mean finding a new lab, learning new techniques and starting over, forgetting about the year and a half of data I have already collected. Because my area of research is so technical and specific there are very few labs that I would even consider joining. I found my passion for the link between behavior and cellular activity when I recorded from my first cell in a moving animal in undergraduate and took on this project in graduate school because it is what I loved, but it also makes my options for projects and labs very slim. So to make an already very long story short I have decided that my best option is to stay here in Houston where my life is and where the largest medical center in the world is. There are many important things to me here and this is also the place to be if you want to move forward in the medical field. And while I am still unsure exactly where I want my career to go I am currently on the job hunt and optimistic that even if I have to start low I will find a job where I can combine my passions and interests. Due to hectic situation of labs leaving Baylor and the process of applying to graduate with my masters from the college nothing is set in stone yet but it looks like I will hopefully be graduating with my masters sometime between October and December and hopefully finding a new job to start by the beginning of next year. In the meantime I will be finishing up my few credit hours, continuing my research, writing a thesis, and job hunting.

All the changes and decisions have been a lot to take in and process but I am at a point where I am confident in my decision and optimisitic about finding a career that will make me happy. This wasn't the plan when I started graduate school but everything happens for a reason and instead of being upset about the situation I choose to look at it as an opportunity to figure out what I want to do with my life and find out what is important to me.

I will continue to update on the changes and my future plans but in the mean time here are a few pictures of the wonderful trip to Roanoke. Please excuse the poor quality of the pictures, most of them were taken with my Blackberry.

The Roanoke start sits at the top of mountain overlooking the town and lights up every night




Downtown Roanoke is a cute, small, and very old downtown. Has a small town feeling and holds a daily farmers market.





We stayed at Hotel Roanoke, which is a very cute, very old, and very nice hotel in downtown.



We spent the last day driving through the blue ridge mountain area which was beautiful. We had lunch in a tiny town on the mountain at an all organic restaurant and managed to get a few group shots of the whole gang.

4th of July in Fredericksburg, TX

Last year we spend a wonderful 4th of July in Niagara Falls so we decided that we would make an effort to have 4th of July be our get away holiday. This year we have had so much going on that we didn't want to go too far, but we still wanted it to be special so we decided to head up to the Texas Hill Country in Fredericksburg. We found an adorable bed and breakfast just outside of town that turned out to be perfect for us. The bed and breakfast is called Settlers Crossing and consists of 7 different cabins which include full kitchens, yards, and outside eating areas. Each cabin is isolated and there is a walking trail around the grounds and there are all sorts of animals running around the property including a horse and a pair of donkeys that are happy to be petted. It was the perfect place to relax and we even got to bring Romo on the trip. We drove up on the 4th and spent one night there relaxing at the cabin, playing outside in the yard with Romo and grilling out and we will definitely be going back again some day. We stayed in the cabin called the Von Heinrich home which was built to replicate a 1787 home from Pennsylvania. It had two bedrooms and was so cozy. Because we were only there for one day and loved the place we were staying so much we didn't spend much time in the actual town of Fredericksburg but it looked adorable and we will definitely head back some day for a longer trip.

www.settlerscrossing.com

We had a wonderful car ride up, Romo is so good, he was a little scared at first but he just sat quietly in the back seat the whole time. We stopped for a picnic lunch so Romo could get out and run around a bit and then headed the rest of the way into Fredericksburg. When we got there the key was under the mat at the front door and we just let ourselves in. The place is great you just let yourself in and at the end leave your key on the table so it feels like you are at your own personal cabin with breakfast delivered to you :)

After unpacking the car we played a little ball with Romo in the yard and then got him settled in the house and headed out to a few vineyards.

Our first stop was Grape Creek Vineyard. This was a tiny little vineyard and we both loved it. We did a wine tasting and then wandered around the cute shop. The wines were pretty good, so good we took home a few, and the building was beautiful. The people here were so nice too, the lady who was doing our wine tasting was very talkative and informative.
www.grapecreek.com




The second vineyard we visited was Becker Vineyards. This was a slightly larger vineyard with a bigger selection of wines and a lot more activity. The tasting was less informative kind of whoever was around poured you a taste without saying much, but we did get a tour of the vineyards with a little history and actually got to meet the owners. It was adorable as well but we definitely preferred the atmosphere and the wines at Grape Creek. Both turned out to be a lot of fun. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon of the 4th. These are definitely not big fancy vineyards, but they are cute, fun, and very Texas.
www.beckervineyards.com






The rest of the 4th we spent hanging around our cabin. Marc grilled us some wonderful steaks and corn on the cob and we had smores for dessert. We played outside in the yard and got to know the local wildlife, Romo loved the horse and the donkeys. We loved the old fashion feel of the cozy cabin.














The next morning we got up and heated up the wonderful pastries that had been left for our breakfast and slowly packed up the car while Romo played in the front yard. We were sorry to leave the cozy little home. But before we headed back to Houston we hiked up Enchanted Rock. We got there before it got crowded and it was absolutely beautiful. It was a short but steep hike to the top of a hill and Romo loved it. When we got to the top we just sat up there and could see for miles around us. It was perfect weather and beautiful scenery, the perfect way to end such a wonderful weekend!

Chasing The White Rabbit

It's been awhile since the last blog, it seems like we just haven't had a second to stop running in this rabbit hole we call life, but we are certainly enjoying ourselves. Over the months of May and June we had many visitors including Marc's parents, my parents, and and extra special visit from one of my other halves Matt. Unfortunately we tend to not take pictures while we're actually in Houston so we don't have many pictures from all the visits, but they were all wonderful!

While the Guillemette's were in town we relaxed, cooked, had an awesome day at the Mad Potter, a cute little paint your own pottery shop that Marc and I love, and we had a Memorial Day cookout in our newly remodeled backyard. Thanks to the technology of video chat I have actually gotten to know the Guillemette's well, so well I even forget sometimes that we have only met in person twice, but it was so nice to actually be in the same place for a couple of days and get to know them even better, we really had a blast while they were in town. I hope to hunt down some of the pictures we do have from their trip and will put up a post that includes pictures.

The weekend after the Guillemette visit, my mom and dad stopped in town on their way home from Hawaii. It was a short trip but we are so glad they managed to work in the trip, we love having them in Houston! We again, got to spend some time out in our new backyard for a family cookout and Marc learned how to grill the super secret Yarnall family chicken on charcol from the master himself, my dad. My dad finally got to meet Romo and my parents enjoyed spending some quality time with their granddogs :) All in all it was a wonderful few days, we really have learned how to appreciate the short trips here and there living away from home and we love every second the whole family gets to be together.

The final visitor of the month was an extra special visitor, My Matt. Matt is one of my best friends from high school and part of the trio including myself, Chelsea, and Matt who were rarely a part in high school. I can't even describe how much Matt means to me, him and Chelsea are two of my closest friends and Matt has been the best guy friend a girl could ask for for many years, He has always been looking out for Chelsea and I over the years and has even picked up the pieces after breakups and come to my rescue taking me to prom :) He is quite the friend! It was so neat for Matt and Marc to get the chance to know each other, not that I was surprised that two amazing guys would get along but it was fun to see! We had a relaxing weekend with Matt, eating a ton (we had to try and keep up with Matt), having pool time, and Matt managed to teach us all about soccer while we watched the world cup. It felt just like the old days with Chelsea and Matt relaxing, eating, and swimming, next time we'll just have to make sure Chelsea comes on the trip too!