Houston, Landa Park, & Save-the-Date's

Spring is definitely my favorite time of year.  The weather is perfect, and there are always so many fun things going on every weekend.

On Friday, I had to make quick trip to Houston for a client meeting.  I wasn't too excited about getting up early and leaving my house at 5:45 in the morning, but the drive in was beautiful.  It reminded me of the daily commute that I made to the Jacobs office in Houston while living in College Station during the Spring of 2008.  Sigh...memories.

Although I've probably made the trip from Austin to Houston about 100 times, I realized on the way there that I've never made that drive by myself.  Come to find out -- 6 hours in a car feels even longer when you don't have anyone to talk to.  For someone who is typically go-go-go, I found myself with a whole lot of time to do nothing but sing along to the radio and count the number of times I crossed the Colorado River.  Haha -- all I can say is thank God for cruise control.

My meeting went well, and on my way back to Austin, I stopped at the Chick-fil-A in Katy for lunch and then at Hruska's to pick up some kolaches for breakfast the next morning.

Unfortunately, the drive back to Austin wasn't nearly as beautiful.  It rained for a little bit.

And because I had not been through Bastrop since the fires, that part of the drive was just downright depressing.

I had seen all sorts of pictures and video on the news, but nothing compares to seeing it in person.

I'm fairly certain that I didn't even see the worst of it, but it was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

When I finally got back into Austin, I decided to treat myself to a quick trip to Marshall's before getting my car inspected and then heading home.  I hardly ever have time to shop these days, which made the stop at Marshall's feel even more like a treat.  I love walking around and looking at everything {something Ben despises}, and I had to laugh when I found this huge piece of art.  Look familiar?

Check this out.

Crazy, huh?  I snapped a picture of the painting and texted it to Abby since she is the only person I know that probably remembers what my dress looks like just as well as {if not more!} than I do.

That night, Ben and I made pizza for dinner and played around with the huge balloon light that he bought on his way home for night construction.

You can't really tell how bright it is in the pictures, but it was crazy.  It lit up our entire backyard!

On Saturday, I woke up early and ran 9 miles with Stephanie and Brenda before heading down to New Braunfels for a company picnic at Landa Park.  When we pulled into the park, I said to Ben, "this place is beautiful.  I can't believe I've never been here before."  But as we continued to drive, I suddenly realized that I had been there before.  It was years ago, but as soon as I saw the train and the water, I remembered being there with Grandma and Pawpaw as if it were yesterday.

The company picnic was a lot of fun.  Jacobs bought BBQ from Rudy's, and everybody brought something to share.  After eating, I rode the train with Will {and Stephanie and Ella}, and we had a great time.  Will was super excited, and in all honesty, so was I.

The train ride took us throughout the entire park, and Will never stopped waving.  His hand was in constant motion -- even when there was no one to wave to.

My favorite thing though was seeing a little kid about Will's age wave back to him as we passed.  It was so sweet and such a fun thing to do with him.

After the train ride, we went and watched some of the softball game before we headed out.

It was a lot of fun to watch -- even though the Austin team ended up losing to San Antonio.

On our way back to Austin, we stopped by the Nutrishop in San Marcos to see Ben's cousin Jack.  We ended up buying all sorts of protein powder and other vitamins, so don't be surprised if I look like the Incredible Hulk next time you see me. ;)

When we got home, we headed next door to help spread dirt in the backyard so that it would be ready for Cheryl and Jason to put down sod the next day.

Miles had a great time "helping", and when he got tired of that, I pulled him around the neighborhood in his wagon while Ben and Cheryl finished up with the dirt.

That night, we crashed early.  It had been a long and very fun day, and we were exhausted.  Apparently, Annie and Amos had a long day, too. ;)

On Sunday, we went to Sunday School and church, and then I went to Debbie and Gregg's house to work on a save-the-date design with Abby and Holly while my mom and Debbie stamped and made all sorts of cute note cards in the other room.  In terms of the save-the-date card, Abby did most of the work and came up with a really cute idea using a picture that Holly chose from the engagement pictures that she and Nelson took few weeks ago.  I'm so glad that we have her expertise because I can only imagine what Holly and I would come up with if it was just the two of us.  After all, you can only do so much with the "Lucinda" font in Microsoft Word -- haha. ;)

That evening, Ben went into work, and I got ready for the start of a new week -- did a couple loads of laundry, picked up around the house, and other "fun" stuff like that.  I love Spring weekends.  I just wish they were longer!