Photos I Owe You

I have promised photos from our Costa Rica trip, and today I will deliver.

The results of muddy four-wheeling.


Us on the rocks.


From left to right, Amanda, Steph, Saona, Michelle, Tiffany, me. Isn't it strange how we are all the same height? No one is wearing heels.


Our amazing house, Casa Azul. Right on the beach. We had it all to ourselves.


Chillaxing.


Canopy tour.


Beach sunsets.

It's 10:45...

And OU still sucks!

This is a photo of me and Travis at the TX-OU Red River Rivalry game in 2005. It is one of my all-time favorite photos of us. We are headed off to watch the game at Billy's on Burnet.

Ho0k 'em!

Back in action

We are back from Costa Rica as the more rested and tanned versions of ourselves. Many stories to come, but I just wanted to share a few teaser photos.

Life lessons from business school

Being a person with a finance degree whose career is only partially related to finance, I have forgotten my fair share of content from my college classes. But, there are several things in business school that are so fundamental, and so repeated, that it makes it hard to forget. Like, for instance, how to be a complete geek with Microsoft Office applications. And how to make yourself seem more impressive and qualified than you actually are on your resume.

But, seriously, I do remember learning the basics of investment volatility and risk vs. return. Basically, you take a low risk investment, like a municipal bond, and you can't really expect a lot of upside. But, it does minimize downside risk -- you know that your money is pretty safe. However, if you take a high-risk investment, like a start-up company, the upside is huge. But, the downside is, too.

My point is, I have learned that for my life, I am all about minimizing the downside. I am not a risk-taker. And, this doesn't just apply to investments.


That's right, ladies and gentlemen, 4 black bathing suits (well, 3.5 really). When it comes to this sun- and exercise-deprived bod, I am all about minimizing downside risk. To be fair, I did try and force myself to buy the polka-dotted bandeau top bathing suit in a different color, but they didn't have my size.

Why the bathing suits? In 10 short days, we are headed to Costa Rica with some of our favorite people. So excited. Can't wait to tell you all about it.

I don't take allergy medicine anymore

We were recently in San Francisco visiting our good friends Jeremy and Michelle. It was a delayed birthday celebration for Jeremy. A big group of us piled into a 15-passenger van and drove to Chico, where the Sierra Nevada brewery is. I had a sampler of their 16 different brews (small portions). They have, in addition to their standard pale ale, about 7 or 8 other pale ales and India pale ales. It was pretty fantastic.

Sampler of the brews at the Sierra Nevada Brewery

Since about my third year in Austin, I have suffered pretty badly from seasonal allergies. I perpetually only have use of one nostril. This last cedar season (which was really bad, even for Austin standards), I was taking a cocktail of Claritin, Zyrtec, and Allegra just so I could think straight at work. My doctor said it was okay.

Jeremy also has pretty bad allergies, and all of the above-listed medicines have stopped working for him. He recently started using, probably partly just to blend in with California culture, the NeilMed Sinus Rinse, which is similar to the Neti Pot.

I did not want to try it. I do not like putting things up my nose. I do not use Nasonex. Ever. The thought of spraying something into one nostril, through my sinus cavities, and out the other nostril (or worse, my mouth) was pretty disgusting to me.

But once I saw the glorious green flow of mucus coming Jeremy's nose, I decided to try it. It was invigorating. It felt like the inside of my face was clean. I had no boogers for the rest of the day (which, if you are aware of my proclivity for nose-picking, you know is both a pro and a con). Best of all, I could breathe and had no allergy symptoms.

So I bought one, and I've used it every day since then. And I have no more allergy problems. I can wear my contacts again, because my eyes are not red, itchy, and watery anymore. My skin is no longer itchy. And all of this during oak season, my worst allergy.

If you have allergies, you need to try it. It is weird, but you will get over it. You will be amazed at the junk coming from your nose. You will save a fortune in allergy medicine that doesn't quite fully work. Do it. And tell me about it.

Storytelling

If you know Travis, you know that he has a knack for storytelling. Now, this is partially because he is really dramatic and enthusiastic when he is talking about something. It is also because he "embellishes" the boring parts of stories to make them better. Either way, it is pretty entertaining, so I can't complain.

I took some pictures of storytelling Travis in action at the party this weekend. Sorry about the sepia coloration of the photos - I was playing around and couldn't change mid stream.

Here he is getting the story started. Notice the rapt attention of the audience, right from the get-go.


Here we are getting some hand motions going.



Wait, where did he go?


Oh, there he is. The story just got real good. I bet you wish you knew what he was saying, don't you?


The audience was sure loving it.


Next time you see Travis, ask him about the Alamo story. I'll bet he would love to tell you about it.

Celebrate Texas

On Saturday we celebrated Texas Independence Day. And the Alamo. And friends. I used the opportunity to play around with my camera.

This is our friend Parker, who, conveniently enough, loves to cook for big crowds. Isn't the Texas flag perfect in the background?


The party was a celebration of all things Texas. Texas music, Texas food, and of course, Texas beverages, like this.


And this.


Get a load of those chickens. Man, they were good.

Happy Birthday, Grams!

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads be beside still waters.
He restores my soul...
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.


In reality, Grams will probably not see this post, but I wanted to share with you all that she is turning 91 today! Grams is Travis's grandmother (on his dad's side), and as a lot of you probably know, she had a stroke at the end of August. It has been a long and difficult road for her and for our family. But, her progress has been amazing and is truly an answer to prayer.

Grams is living at a wonderful assisted living now that is a 2 minute drive from Travis's parents. Before her stroke, Grams lived alone in her own house, walked a couple of miles each morning, and had a pretty impressive garden, all at age 90. This has definitely not been an easy transition for her. But with the AMAZING care and support of the Wussow family, she gets better and better every day. Travis and I are so blessed to even play a very, very small part in helping and encouraging her in recovery. We look forward to every day that we get to spend with her. We love you Grams!

Obama-mania

Obama boasts a 62% approval rating in Texas. That's pretty good considering 23% of us are convinced he is a Muslim.

I've been tagged?

I've been tagged by Leah Gibson. I would like to make it known that I will not make a practice of participating in blog games, but I didn't want to dis Leah who made such a great effort to type out that Keller quote.

This is the tag game.

[1] Grab the nearest book.
[2] Open to page 56.
[3] Find the 5th sentence.
[4] Post the text of the next 2-5 sentences and these rules.
[5] Tag 5 peeps!

And this is the funny part. I technically did this while I was at work (the book-opening part), and the closest book was a manual on water rates. Totally boring. And page 56 was a giant table with numbers, no sentences. Joke's on me.

Do I still get to pass the game on? I feel like I have been disqualified by my own nerdiness.

Now that is what I call Christian music

I got Travis the Welcome Wagon album, Welcome to the Welcome Wagon, for Christmas, and it is amazing. It is great if you are like me and you would prefer to listen to music about Jesus but you would also prefer that your music isn't totally lame. The group is a married couple, and he is a presbyterian minister in Brooklyn, NY. And, it is produced by Sufjan Stevens. If you like Sufjan, and you like Jesus, you will like this.

I have posted the lyrics to my favorite song on the album, Up on a Mountain.

Up on a mountain
Our Lord is alone
Without a family, friends, or a home
He cries, "Oo, oo, oo, will you stay with me?"
He cries, "Oh, oh, oh, will you wait with me?"

Up on a mountain
Our Lord is afraid
Carrying all the mistakes we have made
And He knew
It's a long way down
Do you know
It's a long way down?

Up in the heavens
Our Lord prays for you
He sends His spirit to carry us through
So it's true
That you're not alone
Do you know
He came all the way down?
So it's true
That you're not alone
Do you know
He came all the way down?

Reflections on no TV: Part 2

Another unanticipated casualty from this time of not having a TV - the presidential inauguration. Ordinarily, you would have had to pry me away from my couch with a large crow bar on inauguration day. The same nerd factor that creates the Olympic obsession also creates the need (note: not want) to soak up every second coverage of all historic events. And what a historic event, indeed.

Also note: Travis did not demand a boycott of this television event.

P.S. Not that I was able to watch, but did anyone else think that the Inaguration Neigborhood Ball was a little bit too much like an MTV special? I get what they were trying to accomplish, but it was still strange.