So Long Houston

We'll be leaving Houston this week, and although these last six months were a bit tough because we didn't know how long we'd actually be here, there was a lot we liked about this place that I want to be sure and remember:

• Trees! Who knew? I sure didn't know before I came here, how green Houston is! Especially up where we are in The Woodlands, the trees are tall and green and beautiful.
• The view from our house. We are surrounded on three sides with forest. It is so wonderful to wake up in the morning and open the blinds and all I see is green forest! It feels like we're in the country, even though we aren't. Unfortunately, all that vegetation caused the bug and critter population to be out of control!
• Our ward. The Oakwood ward in the Houston North Stake is so great! People were so friendly and inviting, even though they knew we wouldn't be here long.
• BBQ--People here know how to do it right. We ate at several BBQ's in the area, but our favorite is Pit Master on Rayford-Sawdust Road.
• Library. Although the buildings were a lot smaller than what I was used to at the Salt Lake City library, there were some things that I definitely liked. I liked that you could return your books to any library within the system. I loved the children's programs. I loved that they had a little book shop where you could buy books for 50 cents and magazines for 10 cents! They had lots of children's DVD's to check out, and I liked how they displayed their new books. Oh. And Ty loved playing in the Conroe Library's school bus.
• Parks and pools. Almost every subdivision has their own park and pool. Although it was too hot to use the park all summer!
• Grocery shopping. So many choices! I loved getting my circulars and deciding what two stores I would shop at that week. Randalls(Safeway), Kroger(Smith's) and HEB were my favorites. San Antonio doesn't have as many choices in grocery shopping. HEB has kind of choked all the other stores out of business.
• Small town Texas: we have loved going to all the small town festivals and gatherings just outside of Houston. It will be fun to get to know the small towns outside of San Antonio, too.
• Sunsets. The sky here is incredible! And the sunsets with the tall tress as a silhouette are breathtaking.

P.S. I don't know when that picture was taken, but I've certainly NEVER seen the freeway that empty!

The Crying Gene

I'm not sure if it's biological or environmental, or a little of both, because my mom and my sister have the same problem, but somewhere along the line I became a crybaby. Okay, I've always been a crybaby--my brothers would chant, "Cry! Cry! Cry Sally, Cry!" and say things like, "If you just cry, you'll get whatever you want," and I would just bust out crying. I even have the special talent of being able to cry on demand (I would be a great soap opera star!) But now my crying isn't over toys or scraping my knee--it's over just about everything else. And I'm getting a little sick of it. I used to wear regular mascara. Then I changed to waterproof. Now I don't even wear any, because I know I will cry at least once a day.

It's good in a way, I guess. At least I know I'm not a stone-cold human being without feelings. But seriously, is there any way to control it? It's really embarrassing. I hate being the only one crying all the time!

Just take the last few days as a typical example:

• Driving home from San Antonio, I'm alone because we took two cars, and Brad has Ty with him. I put in my CDs and cry basically the whole time because I'm so grateful for my life and my two boys, and the Temple, and my family, and sad that I'm away from them, but happy that I know the Lord has a plan for us, blah, blah, blah.
• At a thrift store, Ty talks to a lady all cute, and she says, "He'll grow up so fast," and I blurt out, "I know!" and start bawling all over because he is growing up so fast!
• Football game--so proud of the players for working so hard. It reminds me of my joy in playing sports, and the fun I had. I cry at the end of another game as a player makes a winning field goal--I'm so happy for him for playing through the pressure!
• Just thinking--I didn't even hear it this time, I just thought about it--about that Tim McGraw song, "If you're readin' this, with my Momma sittin' there, it looks like I only got a one-way ticket outta here..." all about a man who doesn't come home from the war. This one was late at night. I had to go wake up Brad and just hug and kiss him because he was alive.
• Primary program--the whole thing--I never make it through a primary program! I can't even sub in primary without just bawling. Kids singing and bearing testimony gets me every time!
• Gospel Doctrine, Relief Society. I can never make it out of church.
• Getting Ty's birthmom's wedding announcement--so happy for her, so thankful for her decision to place Ty with us.
• Reading Sue's post.
• Reading Emily's post.
• Ty playing the message my mom left on the machine for him for his birthday over and over again and the sheer joy on his face, and me thinking about how he used to be so close to his grandparents, and how we've taken him away from them. Waaahhhhhhh.

Those are just the examples I could think of right now. I'm sure there were more tearfests that I just don't recall because they are so commonplace. When I'm alone I really don't mind it; a good cry feels good. But Ty has started noticing, and asks me why I'm sad. How do I explain that it's a good cry? Does anyone else struggle with this? Any tips on controlling it?

Three Years!

Three years ago today you brought more JOY,

LAUGHTER, HOPE, HAPPINESS, SWEETNESS

and LOVE into the world.

Happy 3rd Birthday, our Darling Boy.

One day old

First birthday, first Happy Meal

Cute as a button on 2nd birthday


Waking up to a Spiderman cake today!

Cooldown (for today, anyway)

I think I would have liked our six months here in Houston a lot better if all nights had been like tonight:

Sunny
78 degrees
Relative Humidity: Low
Breeze: Light, coming from the North
Trike-Riding Weather: Perfect!

We Got It!

Well, the negotiations weren't as smooth as some that I've seen on HGTV, but the end result is the same: we got a Great House at a Great Price! And we're so excited about it! This home is head and shoulders above the rest in its price range. It has so many extras: a sprinkler system, reverse osmosis water, landscaped yard, ceiling fans, great paint colors, tile and pergo downstairs, nice refrigerator, front loading washer/dryer, a big patio.

Plus, the down side was that I thought it was farther from shopping and the freeways. Well, I hadn't been to the part of town south of the house! It's only 2.5 minutes (I timed it!) from an HEB grocery store! It's only 3 minutes to Spencer and Sara's. And one minute to Ty's future school. Plus, although it is a little farther from the freeway than the others (still only about 5 minutes), the freeway that it's closest to is a better artery to and from the city.

We'll be moving around the first week of November. Tomorrow's the inspction--hope it goes well!

So take a look around our future home!

San Antonio, Here We Come!

Well, we finally got approval to move to San Antonio!!! It's a good thing, because I had already scheduled an appointment with the realtor for this Thursday! We've narrowed it down to three houses that are all in good neighborhoods and all have good things about them. Of course, a new home could come on the market tomorrow and we could snatch it up, but we're excited about any of these three. All three of them are within 1650 to 1700 square feet. Which one is your favorite?

Older, mature trees, house is 15K cheaper than the other two.

This is in my favorite neighborhood, very close to the freeway, surprisingly spacious.

Lots of nice upgrades like sprinkler system, comes w/ all appliances so we could sell some, and in Spencer and Sara's ward, but farthest from shopping and freeways.