Casa del Maxwell

We have one more week of packing and purging of things before we load up the truck and move into our new home. I am so excited to have a little more space with a second bedroom, second bathroom and a balcony and to be living in the same complex as a few of our friends, but at the same time, the leaving is bittersweet.


It's not that we're moving far away and leaving behind people we love, like Patrick's sister and our brother-in-law did back in May. It's just that, well, this was our first home together. The first place we picked out and furnished and lived in for the past five years. We know all its quirks and how loud our current neighbors are. I know where all the light switches are without having to run my hand up and down a wall. I know how to find my way from the darkened kitchen to my side of the bed without stubbing my toe.

So, in a couple months, once we get things all set up in Casa del Maxwell, come on out for a visit! We'll have an actual guest bedroom for you to stay in! That is, as long as you don't mind sharing it with the kitties...

Friendship, Friendship, Just A Perfect Blendship

The past few weekends have been jam packed with get-togethers and dinners and barbecues. I absolutely love it, but the weekend just seems to fly by now. Patrick said, "Well, you said you wanted friends!"

When I moved back to Austin about a year after graduating from UT, I felt pretty isolated and lonely. The majority of my friends had left town to take jobs elsewhere and I hadn't yet found a niche here. I occasionally would hang out with people from the organization store I worked at but nothing really stuck, even though I still keep in touch with one of them. I started my current job, then Patrick and I started planning our wedding which took us on the road a lot, since the wedding was in Arlington. I liked a couple of the girls I worked with, but since Pat and I were out of town so much and I was a bit distracted with invitations, guest lists and flowers, I just didn't put in any real effort to forming new relationships. I mean, how many people were we already inviting to the wedding? We couldn't afford to add any more friends right now!

Well, those two girls at work became two of my really good friends (Hi Brandi and Tracy!) And they introduced us to a lot of their Chemical Engineering Doctorate friends. Think: extremely smart but fun, laid back group who like to play dominos, drink beer/wine and go bowling.

Then, one of our old friends pops back into our lives and moves to Austin with his girlfriend, then fiance, now wife. They introduced us to another couple who we really like and live near us, so another group is formed.

We find a church we absolutely love and start to become involved with a small group. While Patrick gets really busy at work, I'm getting to know a lot of them and growing pretty close to a few of them. I keep telling him I can't wait for him to meet them because I LOVE them. We finally go to lunch with one of the couples and he agrees that they are pretty awesome. We're now very excited to be planning to live in the same apartment complex, just a building or two away from them.

On top of all this, after a lot of prayers and now thanksgivings, Patrick's sister, brother-in-law, and their daughter move back to Austin. And like I've said a million times, so excited to have them here!

So, I guess it's my own fault we're so busy now, I asked for friends and Ask and Ye Shall Receive.
Now, if we can only get Brandi & Chris and Rachael & Hagan to Austin...

Is that an Alligator?

Last week I accompanied Patrick to Lake Charles, LA for his company's annual corporate meeting where we were put up in the L'Auberge du lac Casino Resort for a couple nights. We took a small detour on our way out there in Houston to grab a bite to eat (and for me to enjoy a margarita, since it was technically my vacation) at one of our favorite taco shacks, Chacho's. And then we were on our way to slot machines, drinks by the pool, and oh yeah, company meetings.

And company meetings there were! I found out Tuesday that they wanted the spouses to attend the first meeting that centered around the company's philosophy and culture, to get to know the company better. So, bright and early Thursday morning, we woke up and headed down to breakfast and the Company Culture & Philosophy meeting. Breakfast turned out to be a couple of fruit kebabs and yogurt and then 5 hours later, after lunch, they finally released the spouses. My hopes of spending the day sipping fruity frozen drinks by the pool, were replaced with trying to stay awake in a meeting and then going straight back to the room to sleep for a couple hours.

I did get a little bit of free time, but it just isn't the same spending it by yourself. It was nice to read by the pool, but I found out that I am just not the casino-going-gambling-type-of-girl. I like my money to stay where it is. Plus, have you ever heard of a NON-smoking casino? Yeah, me neither. And I found out what happened to Everclear, they are now playing for free at Louisiana casinos.

Friday morning, while Patrick was in his final meetings of the trip, I slept in and then brunched on french toast, bacon and bloody marys. By the end of the trip, I had lost 3 dollars to slot machines and two hubcaps, thanks to poor Louisiana highways. While I'm so glad I was able to go and be supportive of my husband, I just don't think I can call that a vacation.

Woo Hoo!

"One sister down, one sister to go!" That's what I told my sister after finding out that Laura, Eric and Sophie were officially moving to Austin. Patrick's and my 5-10 year plan for all of our loved ones to be in Austin is slowly starting to take shape!

It's been quite awhile since we've lived in the same city as immediate family, so I'm a bit curious how often we will get to see each other. I wonder what we'll do for the holidays and if we'll be traveling as much as we used to. But I guess that's what marriage is all about: family and compromise.

So, after living in Brooklyn for the past decade, they are making the leap and setting up shop down here. It's always been something we've wistfully talked about, so I don't think it has still quite sunk in yet. And still a small part of me says, I'll believe it when I see it. But I have faith and we are beyond excited! I am so excited to have them here because I've always wanted to have a closer relationship with them, to actually know them. To see them more than a couple times a year. To have our niece recognize me and know me by name when I scoop her up, instead of "who is this crazy lady holding me?" To babysit Sophie so Laura & Eric can have a night out. To be able to meet for happy hour after work or brunch on the weekend. So, yeah we are pretty darn excited and can't wait!

From New York Trip - Sophie's Birthday

Can't wait to see this face (and her parents') more often!

Going to the Chapel....

This weekend, Patrick and I got to witness an old friend marry a beautiful, intelligent, and funny young woman, who has also become a good friend to us. We've always hoped that Jake would find a good woman that appreciated him as much as we do, and I think he got that and more.

The first time we met Jill, they had met us at Salt Lick for dinner about four years ago, and we were blown away. "This girl is gorgeous! How did Jake land her?" Not that Jake isn't wonderfully adorable, but this girl, this young woman, looked like she walked right off of a magazine photo shoot. Plus she's extremely smart, and at the time was excited to be heading to UT to become an engineer. At the end of our double date, Jill and I were talking about 10 feet away from Patrick and Jake, who were standing by our car, also talking. And Jill and I heard an extremely loud "WHAT?!?" Evidently, Jake was telling Patrick about the first time he asked Jill out and she said yes. The "What?!?" was his inner dialogue, surprised at her answer.

The wedding was gorgeous, the food was great, beer was enjoyed by all, and the bride looked amazing. I am so excited for Jake and Jill and can't wait to see what the future has in store for them!

It's Friday and rainy and all I want to do is be home curled up on my couch watching a movie with Patrick. I haven't seen him much this week, or the past few months for that matter. He's been working like crazy. And every time they are able to bring on someone full time to help out, another person leaves. He's in San Antonio one day, Temple the next, and is rarely ever home before I'm getting ready for bed, much less in time for dinner.

Over the past two weeks, I saw glimpses of how things could be if he worked a regular 8-5 job. Actually getting to see him in the light of day instead of kissing him hello or goodbye while half asleep. But then, the next day it goes right back. I'm praying that things will change soon, because I don't know how much more I can take of seeing him only on the weekends.

This week has dragged on long enough and I'm ready to relax with some friends at happy hour with a margarita or two.

The New Year

A new year has rolled in since the last time I posted. A New Year, a New President(!!!) and LOST is back on TV. So far, so good.

We spent the weekend in Houston, getting to celebrate the marriage of two of our friends. "A great story of perseverance," is one of the quotes I heard describing the groom's courting of his bride. They were beautiful, and we had fun toasting to the new married couple. Lots of dancing with little kiddos and skirting questions of our future little ones.

I wish I could show off the beautiful bride, or the happy groom, or the adorable kids our friends have, but unfortunately, I learned a crappy lesson this weekend. Don't go 6 months without backing up any of your photos, because Murphy's Law states, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." It may not be immediate, but eventually, Murphy will catch up with you. Someone picked up our camera with way too many pictures stored on it. Hopefully it was an accident and it will be returned soon, but I have a sinking feeling that our fun little Casio is long gone. I guess we'll find out in the next few days.

I've signed up to volunteer with SXSW for the first time and tonight I'm heading down to the volunteer call to see what positions are still available. So, we'll see....it's been 5 years since I've worked a festival and I don't know if anything can live up to Sundance, or Cannes before that, but I'm looking forward to being around the artsy types again.

The Next Day

As I left Patrick's office last night, I turned my key in the ignition and Barack Obama's voice filled my car. "We have come so far...but there is so much more to do." He spoke of Ann Nixon Cooper and all that she has seen in her century of being on this earth and wondered what the next century will bring. What change will my niece see? What will Patrick's and my children be able to celebrate? Will bans on gay marriage finally be viewed as a horrible injustice the way we now view racism and slavery? I hope and pray that we continue to work towards building a nation not on hate, but on love.

Once Patrick got back home, we popped open a bottle of champagne and toasted to our new President-Elect and to our future.

Yes we can!

Community

Over the past month and a half Patrick and I started going to a new church that meets in a high school gym. I was a little skeptical at first, but after hearing 4 different people talk about this church and how incredible the pastor is, I really wanted to check it out. It seemed that Patrick and I had been in a rut as far as churches go. We got frustrated with the one that we had been attending, because half of the congregation would leave before the benediction, I'm guessing so that they could beat the traffic out and arrive that much earlier at Chili's. We've checked out a few other churches in the area, but they seem to either be "cotton candy" religion, have horrible music, have no one our age or even under the age of 65, or we just plain felt out of place.

So after a friend from high school, a friend from college, a friend of another friend, and a local photographer all have mentioned attending this church and how amazing it was, I knew that something was happening there and I wanted to find out what that was.

After that first Sunday visiting The Stone, I knew I had found a home. But since Patrick is Catholic and I am Protestant, we don't always seem to agree on these types of things. But this church is different and it's calling us both to build a community here.

They have been renting a meeting space at Austin High for a few years now, but they recently bought a piece of land in a community that is a stone's throw away from Patrick's office. This is a neighborhood that is in desperate need of hope, love, shelter, and a place that could help them get back up on their feet. It's a rough neighborhood, plain and simple, but The Stone is wanting to turn that around and be a church for this city and for this community in particular.

I've never been a part of a church that has their heart broken for people like this. It has always just been a safe, easy place to go on Sundays. But this, this is a whole 'nother animal. And I am completely loving it.

A Page is Turned

Three years ago yesterday, Patrick and I exchanged vows, rings, and promised to love each other for the rest of our lives. And I probably will say this each year, but I can't believe how fast it has gone by already.

Happy Anniversary honey! "I will always love you, I will never leave you, I will always take care of you."

In other news, this is where we will be Saturday afternoon:

Can't wait! It's been 6 years since we have been to a game, so I'm so excited to return! If anyone else is going or is tailgating, let me know, we'd love to meet up!

Funny Valentine

Candied Sweet Potatoes, Asparagus, and Strawberry Chipotle Pork Tenderloin

Our Valentine's evening consisted of a beautifully put together dinner, Shiraz-Syrah from Dry Comal Creek Vineyards and deciding to plop down in front of our TV so that we didn't miss Lost. Perfect evening!

Because I Win

Patrick and I have a bit of a competitive streak in our marriage. He likes to win. I like to win. But he really does not like to lose....especially to me. He beats me all the time at trivia games and I don't like it, but I can understand that he stores a lot of useless data in that head of his. Trivial Pursuit, no contest, he gets the full pie before I get two in. Scene It? He guesses "On Golden Pond" before any letters are filled in during the hangman portion. He even beat me at the Friends Scene It game that he got me for Valentine's last year.

There really are only a few things that I have found that I can beat him at consistently: air hockey, miniature golf, and Pente. Pente is a game Patrick used to play as a kid and I finally found the game and got it for him for Christmas. We've played a number of times, and he's won a lot of them, but I have to say, I can kick his ass at Pente.

The way to win is to either a) get 5 stones in a row: horizontally, vertically or diagonally or b) collect 5 pairs of your opponents stones.

I had the amber stones, Patrick had the green. Not only did I get 5 in a row, I got 6!! That's how good I am.

And if you can't tell in the picture above, here's a better view:

I've asked him a couple times since I won that game, if he wants to play again but he always seems to change the subject.

The Table

A few weeks ago, Patrick and I finally finished a 3 year project. We found, that it can really be difficult to stain a table when you don't have a dedicated space to do it, which in turn, made it take so damn long to complete. We needed enough time to sand the wood, condition it, stain it, then let it dry till it wasn't tacky anymore. Otherwise, kitty hairs get stuck in the stain. Not good.

And we had to do all this in front of our apartment door. You know, where the tarantula was from yesterday? I don't think our neighbors liked us too much on staining days.

Also, it seemed like there was a very small window in which we were able to stain the table.

• Can't be too hot, or we would sweat on the table.
• Can't be too humid, or the stuff would never dry.
• Can't be too cold, or our hands would freeze up (but like it really gets that cold in Austin.)
• Can't be out of town.
• Can't work on it inside, or the furry animals would have a race on it.

But now the table is done!! All rejoice and be glad!

Overhead of Finished Table

Closeup of Finished Table

How It All Started

Eight years ago today, Patrick pulled me aside in a 1942 house on Peck Avenue and spoke those words that I will forever remember as bringing us together: "Would you like to go see a movie?" He later told me that after much contemplation and thought of how to go about asking me out, all the plans and clever words went out the window at the last moment.

The movie would have to be put off till the following week, as I was heading up to attend the TX/ou game in Dallas that weekend. And he was going up to Dallas as well, but to see one of his best friends sing. I stayed with a bunch of friends Friday night and went to the game the next day, where he picked me up and promptly told me that I stunk. I had just spent the better part of 3-4 hours in the heat surrounded by other sweaty Texas fans, what do you expect??

We didn't end up seeing Mike sing that night. We got lost and finally showed up right as they were walking out of the building. I couldn't have even imagined that night that almost 8 years later, his friend whom I just met, would be singing at our wedding reception.

I mentioned to Patrick that I was going to be meeting my parents for brunch the next morning, so I'd need to go get my car from my friend's house fairly early. He responded, "Oh, I get to meet your parents?" So, only 4 days after he asked me to the movies, Patrick and I ate blueberry pancakes with my parents and my very talkative sister who probably helped relieve any anxiety or nervousness of meeting my parents for the first time. All a little unorthodox, but hey, we got it out of the way.

So, here we are: two Austinites who have been together for eight years, married for two, living with two neurotic cats in a "little place near Lake Travis," as Patrick likes to put it.

Happy Eight Years Honey!

Blessed

Just three weeks before our second anniversary, we repeated the Catholic Marriage Rite after Father Samuel and had our rings prayed over and blessed.

Back in June, we found out that in order to be Godparents in the Catholic Church(technically I would be a "Christian Witness"), we would have to have our marriage be convalidated since we were married outside the Catholic Church at my home church in Arlington.

Patrick and I with the parents

After a lot of back in forth between a few Catholic churches, staff at the churches, a priest and a deacon, Patrick and I found ourselves on September 1st, joined by Patrick's parents and my parents at a beautiful church out in Lakeway so that our marriage could be convalidated in the Catholic Church.

A quote Nancy found that seemed fitting for our niece.

All photos courtesy of Portfolio Studio aka Paul Knudsen aka my dad.

Live at the Lake

We hopped up onto a half-wall overlooking the three infinity pools that blend into Lake Travis. Expensive cheap beers in hand and people watching. Laughing at the young drunk girls that keep slapping older men on the bums and stumbling into people because their not paying attention to where their feet are taking them.

The couple next to us has their 4 month old girl with them and are talking to another couple with their baby boy. The little girl seems so tiny, so tiny for four months. My niece seemed so much bigger than her, even at two months. I hope we do these things when we have kids, Patrick says we have to. We will have to get out of the house with the kids if we want to stay sane.

Waiting for the music to start, we stroll into some of the surrounding pools. Patrick teases me because I'm not fond of treading water in the deep end. We feel we could get used to this: Lakeway Resort pools, overlooking Lake Travis, with good music playing into the night. We go back to our perch on the wall for a bit and joke about the women decked out in way too much makeup and non-appropriate dresses for the poolside. Some of the music starts but it's no one I've heard of.

Finally, Bob starts to play, but he's doing a mellow set and only by the time we're ready to leave he starts to pick it up. We stay for a few more songs, then get out of there before all the drunk people leave and we decide we'll catch him at Antone's or Saxon another time. On our way home, a fire truck blares past us followed by an ambulance. Thank God we left when we did.

I wish I may, I wish I might...

A couple of weekends ago, Patrick and I took a late night drive just to the outskirts of town to get away from city lights, which for us is about 20 minutes. A friend had tipped us off to the meteor shower happening that weekend and since we are the 8-5, Monday through Friday work-type-people, we decided to check it out Saturday night but had to miss the big show on Sunday. We brought a couple of beach towels and laid down in the back of his truck on the side of Pale Face Road. Every once in awhile we saw something out of the corner of our eyes shoot across the sky, but nothing really bright in the center of our view. It was already pretty late (at least for us) and we still had to drive back. Patrick said, "Ok, give me one good one so we can go home!"

Nothing.

Couple of crazies just staring at the sk- "WHOA! Did you see that???" I was so shocked that I stood up pointing towards the streak of light.

It went so far and was so bright, that it left a trail which led to where it landed out in Marble Falls.

We used to be able to see these meteor showers right outside of our apartment, either sitting at the pool or just by walking down to our car. But now that there is a Walmart just down the street, we can barely see the major constellations. I don't even want to imagine how far we'll have to drive to see the stars when our kids are old enough to recognize the big dipper.

Take-out

I'm not sure what the change was, but all of a sudden, Patrick and I have been eating more and more Asian food. He is finding that he likes and actually craves certain things and I'm not going to complain. Recently, we've been having Pei Wei about once a week and occasionally, I'll find a take-out container in the top of the trash can or a fortune cookie wrapper accidentally left out, only to find out he had Chinese food without me. For a girl who, for years (can you believe we've been together for 8?!), begged him to join me for some chicken lo mein or pad thai and after repeated turn downs, accepted that the only time I would get my Chinese fix was without him.

Not too long ago, on one of our Pei Wei take-out nights, we opened our fortune cookies and found this:

Besides 6 and 49 being on our next Lotto ticket, have any ideas as to what that means?

Still Reading...

On Friday, Patrick accompanied me to the midnight release of the new Harry Potter. He said if anyone asks, he's just going to hold up his left hand and point to the ring. I wasn't planning on staying up all night reading the book or even reading the whole thing over the course of the weekend. I figured since this was the last book of the series and probably the most hyped book ever to be released to date, I wanted to attend one of the midnight parties. We didn't get dressed up or even participate in any of the games (HP bingo) or debates (Snape: Friend or Foe?), we mostly people watched which is one of our favorite things to do in large groups of people we don't know. And with this group of people, like any other fanatical crowd, it was pretty entertaining. Although, by the end of the night, I was ready for an end to the caped kids running around swishing their sound-making-wands and calling out Avada Kedavra to anyone in their way.

So, this weekend, I finished up the last few chapters of my re-read of the Half Blood Prince then started on Deathly Hallows. I'm not even close to being done at this point and part of me wants to take my time reading this one, since I know another will not follow. But on the other hand, I can barely put it down, because as soon as I finish one chapter, I want to find out what happens next and end up staying up till midnight reading.

Birthday in NYC

Patrick and I spent my birthday weekend in New York feasting on tasty food and hanging out with our sisters and their respective others. We took advantage of as much free stuff as possible and while doing so got to see Dave Attell and a number of other comedians at Comedy Central Park Summerstage and Superchunk at McCaren Park Pool. We even got into the Modern Museum of Art for free!

Since Patrick and I had been to NYC a few times before, we tried to treat this trip as a little more low key than before. We didn't do as many touristy stuff and mostly just wanted to spend time with family and friends and eat and eat and eat. Eat a lot of good food. We didn't get into NYC until about midnight on Thursday night. Luckily Anytime was open and grabbed some amazing sandwiches there. On Friday, we went to eat lunch at Sea (where part of Garden State was shot) and Anna Maria's Pizza (where I ran after Eric when we saw him pass by the window) for a quick slice before the comedy show.

Sea

Rachael & Hagan took us all to a little place in the village on my birthday that had unlimited mimosa included with your meal at brunch. I thought I had 3 mimosas. I was later told that I had three full glasses, but they kept topping me off, so who knows how much I actually had. I felt pretty good the rest of the day. And since Rach doesn't want anyone else to find out about this place, it will go unnamed for now.

unlimited!

After stuffing our faces, we strolled over to have a long line greet us at Magnolia Bakery and grabbed up some of their famous cupcakes and banana pudding. Mmmmmmm...

Between Teddy's and Frank on Sunday, I think we did pretty good food wise.

Hagan & Rachael (our gracious hosts)

And in between all the eating and walking, we got to have some good times with Rachael, Hagan, Laura, Eric, Sophia, Nancy and Emily. It was nice to just hang out their places and relax for a few days. Watching Dexter, laughing because Patrick and I had so much trouble with those damn metrocards or just cooing at Sophie.

Happy Sophie

I'm sure New Yorkers don't, but I actually miss the subway. I miss not having to drive in traffic and being able to walk everywhere. And if there wasn't so much good food to be eaten, I would probably lose weight if we lived there. It would be so nice to live close to our sisters, the husband/boyfriend, and our new niece. But after hearing Hagan complain about places with no A/C, no dishwashers, high priced everything and waiting with bated breath to get down to Austin, I think I'm happy to just visit. Until next time New York!