Kalina Family Reunion ~ 2008

This past weekend was the Kalina Family Reunion at the Inn of the Hills in Kerrville. We've had it there every other year for the past 8 years. It was a little small this year, but we still had lots of fun. The whole family picked me up in SA Friday morning. The came to SA in mom's care and then we had to transfer everything to my truck so we could all fit along with everything we had packed. You would have thought we were going for a week! After some crying and screaming, and lots of luggage maneuvering, we finally got on the road and made it into town around 1. Dad and Ryan were dropped off at the golf course, while mom, Rach, and I grabbed some food and ate lunch by the river. After we checked in, we went to the pool. The Inn has two pools...one at the hotel, and one down by the river. The one by the river never has anyone there, probably because you have to walk a ways to get to it. When we got there, there was only one other family there, so it was nice and relaxing. The water, however, was freezing! And the wind was blowing so it made it even colder! I didn't stay in the water long, so I laid out and got some much needed sun for my pasty white skin.

By that time, some of my other family members had made it in, so we sat by the pool at the hotel chatting with them, and killing time before dinner. We ate at Mamacita's! Yum! I know that it's a chain, but the one in Kerrville is by far the best! We had some drinks and enjoyed way too much chips and salsa. After we got back to the hotel and our dinner had time to digest, we trekked our way across the parking at 9:00 at night to Dairy Queen to chow down on some blizzards. This has become a sort of tradition for us at the reunion, so of course we have to continue it, no matter how full you are or what type of diet you may be on!

On Saturday, Dad and I got up early to go shopping for essentials like coffee and watermelon. The morning was spent visiting with family, and some card playing. Lunch at the hotel was good as always, and of course, I ate way too much. It's dangerous to offer desserts on a buffet and then offer 30 different desserts. We all got dinner plates and loaded up on one of everthing. After lunch, mom, Annette, and I took Josh to the Ingram Dam. He had never been there, and I have been raving about it for awhile, so he wanted to see what it's all about. Basically, the river is dammed in Ingram. But the cool thing is that you can slide down! And then crawl back up and do it all over again. Or you can hang out in the river behind the dam. We discovered it probably 10-12 years ago, and love it. But be sure to take a crappy bathing suit or old shorts because they will get torn when you go down. We didn't go down, but we hope to head out there one weekend. We then went back to the hotel to load up, and Josh and I came back into SA. We got up early Sunday to start cleaning the house, which is in the previous post.

I didn't take a whole lot of pics, but these are some I snagged from Rach. When I get a chance, I'll post some of the ones I took.

The house is ours!

The house is ours now. Josh and I went over there today to clean. Let's just say they only vacuumed and even that was half ass! My parents and Ryan showed up around lunch to help. Mom cleaned the fridge, thank goodness, because it was disgusting! Josh and I cleaned windows, window sills, baseboards, above doors, ceiling fans, and vacuumed. I cleaned the bathrooms too, which was about as disgusting as the fridge! Ugh! I think we went through two containers of Clorox wipes! Josh swept and washed off the deck. Dad changed the locks for us and made a list of what he has to bring next weekend. Ryan kinda did whatever we needed him to do. Before we left for the day, Josh and I had a little fun with the red wasps that have taken up residence in our eaves. We got some heavy duty spray, and prepared ourselves to run like hell if they started to attack. We got lucky that they all were a little drugged up when they flew out, so there wasn't too much excitement. I have to go over there this week to finish the kitchen, breakfast room, and utility room. Saturday is the BIG day...moving day! We've got a U-haul rented and I'm almost all packed up. Not too much left to do.

We went to Home Depot Saturday evening when we got in from Kerrville to pick up some things we needed. Oh my gosh, what a trip! It was one thing after another. First, was the water hose. We decided we should probably get one. Then we thought we should get a spray nozzle. You'll notice in the pics below that there are large rectangles with different colors of paint. Apparently, the previous owners wife did the painting, and she didn't move furniture, she just painted around it!! Yeah, who does that? Anyways, they did leave some paint for us. So, while we were at Home Depot, we decided to get a paint brush. But then we decided to get a paint roller in addition to the brush. And they we felt like we might need paint thinner. It just kept snowballing! But we had fun, and are really excited about this adventure we are about to start.

The front

The front
Entry


Looking into living roomThe "blue room"

Guest Bath
Guest room
Guest room

Looking into breakfast room and kitchen

Master bedroom

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom/Bathroom

Kitchen

Backyard

Backyard

Outdoor grill and sink!!

I have a house!!!

Yes, that's right, Josh and I are houseowners!! AAHHHH!! I can't believe it!

I haven't mentioned anything, because I just kept waiting for the bottom to fall out like the last one. I didn't want to jinx anything! Luckily, this all went pretty smoothly. We closed this morning at 11:00. It is still all too surreal!

So, the plan now is to clean this weekend and then we will officially be moving in on the 19th. Stay tuned and I will hopefully post some pics this weekend.

We also have the Kalina Family Reunion this weekend in Kerrville, so I'll probably post some pics from that as well!

I think I've fallen in love again

with Texas Country music.

I guess this would be a good time to talk about my love for Texas Country. The farthest back I can remember listening to it is probably 1998 or somewhere around there. And that was when it was people like Pat Green, Cory Morrow, and Jack Ingram. So, in the past decade, I have really grown to love the music and it's pretty much all I listen to now...it has taken over my ipod. When I was at SFA, I went to all kinds of concerts and really loved the live music. When I moved to Lubbock, I got out of going to live concerts and lost track of up and coming artists. I found a few here and there, but it's was nothing like the last year. I also started to despise going to concerts because I hated the hot, sweaty crowded crowds and drunk, annoying people.

Well, this last year has really opened my eyes to all the new acts out there. When I moved to San Antonio, I was so excited to be able to listen to KVET in Austin again. They were always my source for the latest and greatest in Texas Country. I can't always get them in my truck in SA, but I could stream at work, so I got my fill. Well, then they decided to fire Sam and Janice Williams (who is a wonderful source of all things Texas Country), and I sorta went on a KVET strike. I'll still listen to them when I can in my truck and of course when I am in Austin, but it's just not the same.

That was in October, and it was a few months before I discovered 92.5 here in San Antonio. It has become my new source of Texas Country music and I have begun to get acquainted and reacquainted with all kinds of artists. My ipod is now refreshed!

So, I haven't been to a concert in ages. Last year at the Schulenburg Festival was the last one I had been to. Beore that had been in April 2006 for Aaron Watson, and that was a disasterous night! Wednesday night, I went again. Yes, on a work night! But it was Bleu Edmonson at The County Line here in SA and it was FREE! I have always been a fan of his, but not as big of a fan like I am to other artists. However, I have been listening to his latest album online lately, and have really enjoyed it, so I wanted to go check it out. I was amazed!! It was probably one of the best shows I have seen! And it was in the perfect place. The weather was nice...not too hot, slight breeze. It was crowded, but not to the point where you couldn't move. And the drunk people were to a minimum. I did get a cup of beer splashed on me, which I still don't know how that happened, but it wasn't a mood killer.

Now I want to get back into going to concerts. My only complaints would have to be that it was in such a small venue, there was no room to dance. And that's really what makes it a lot more fun. Also, when they are playing a smaller venue, why can't they turn the speakers down just a notch or two and it would make it sound so much better.

And now, I'll end this with some of my favorites.

Only a man...

Only a man would could have come up with the procedures used by female doctors. I say this because I had my annual day of doctors appointments in Austin yesterday. We were getting started pretty early so I drove to Austin Wednesday evening to spend the night with Ryan and Rach at the apartment. It was so nice to be able to sleep in until 7:30!! We went to eat breakfast at Whole Foods. That's their new place to eat meals and I have to say it was really good! Then it was time for the fun to start. The female doctor was first. What a way to start a day, huh? They took their sweet time getting me in. When mom got there, she set them straight and within 5 minutes I was in a room, sitting on the table freezing my ass off in the paper thin gown! I was out of there within 20 minutes and headed north to the next appointment...the dermatologist.

I thought it was just going to be a check over of my moles to make sure everything was ok. Well, that happened, but also I had to ask her what the hell I need to do about these crazy zits I am getting worse as a 26 year old than I ever had in high school. She hooked me up with all kinds of creams and an oral antibiotic. Let's hope this shit gets cleared up before October!! She also removed this crazy little mole thing I had on the back of my knee. Let me tell you, that numbing shot back there hurt like hell!!! I don't remember ever getting a shot so painful!! Luckily it small and it was over quickly, but it felt like the longest 10 seconds of my life!!

And then it was time for the dentist. I really wasn't dreading it, but a visit to the dentist is never fun. Everything came out great there. No cavities!! Woohoo! Plus, I love visiting with the ladies there. I have to go back in six weeks to get my chipped tooth fixed, but nothing big!

Mom and I then met Rach for a late lunch at Red River Cafe, near campus. If you have never been there, you should definitely try it out. It's one of those little hole in the wall places that is really delicious! After lunch, I got on the road to beat the I-35 traffic out of town. I got back pretty early and laid on the couch and read a book the rest of the afternoon. It was nice just to relax. But it was really hard to go back to work today.

Josh is in Ft. Stockton this weekend, so I am planning to do some cleaning this weekend and maybe a little relaxing by the pool. I really need some sun!!

Slowly but surely

I spent a very busy, but succcessful weekend in the 'burg. And I got to hang out with my mom which is always a trip!

We headed into Houston Saturday morning to do some shopping and for her to get her haircut, which is really cute!! Then we went to Harwin Street to look for my jewelry for the wedding. I have the necklace, but nothing else. We went there thinking that we were going to find everything! HA! We only found earrings! Our main goal was to find a hairclip, but we found nothing. We then went to Arne's which is way on the east side, but it's a huge 2 story warehouse filled with anything and everything party related. They have a whole wedding related section, so we started there. Not really realizing it, we walked by a glass case where lo and behold, they had hairclips!! And I found the one!!!! I couldn't believe it!! As soon as we stopped looking specifically for it, we found it. Along with all kinds of other stuff. Garters, champagne glasses, napkins, plates, forks, spoons, cups...everything for really cheap!! We're gonna go back at the end of June to get everything. It was so exciting and such a relief to find all of it!!

Sunday was full of church picnic fun! Mom and Aunt Cindy are in charge of the popcorn/nacho/tea booth. I went to help setup and work the first shift. Mom and I had to leave to go sort out flowers and cake stuff. First was the florist, Barbara. Mom has used her for years and she is so creative!! I told her my colors and kind of what I am wanting. She is going to talk to her wholesaler about particular flowers and get back to me. Then it was on to the cake lady, Liz. I love her cakes!! My mom only uses her for any cakes we need. They are always moist and have the best flavor. We got the groom's cake and mine sorted out. I think they are going to look really good!!

We got home and I got all packed up to leave, was ready to pull out of the driveway and mom noticed that our neighbors calf was out. As we were on the phone calling the neighbors, the calf decides to run through the neighbors yard. When I go to chase it down, I notice there is another one out as well! It was like three ring circus trying to chase these things down and back under the fence. But we got it done and I headed on my way back to SA to start another fun filled week!!!

I'm hoping to get some more wedding stuff this weekend. It's slowly starting to come together!!!

Engagement Pictures!!!!

Finally, the engagement pictures have been posted!! And Ryan and Laurie Walla did an awesome job! Josh and I have been anxiously awaiting these pics and we were not disappointed! This is just a sampling, so if you want to see more, you can go to http://www.memorable-media.com/. Or if you need a photographer, I highly recommend them.

And you wouldn't know it from the pics, but it was incredibly windy the day we took them. I was very worried that my hair was going to be all over the place! So either they are really great photographers or really great photoshoppers because my hair looks pretty good in all of the pics!