"Home"

It was bound to happen sooner or later... I miss "Home."  Maybe I should clarify a bit.  I have had a lot of "homes" in the last few years.  There's the house where I grew up, where my parents live - and that will always be "home" for me.  Then there was the "home" I had the summer after high school graduation with my Grammy and then with my aunt and uncle.  I had a "home" in the dorms my freshman year of college.  The summer following that year I signed my very first lease and had a "home" for the next year with the best roommates I could have ever asked for.  Also that year I gained yet another "home."  I met my future in-laws and their house has become a "home" for me.  Then we got married and made a "home" out of our first place.  This summer, my "home" is in Houston.

Right now though, I guess I miss a place more than an actual house or apartment.  I miss Golden.  When we moved there after we got married it was so different for me.  I had never lived that close to a city before, never had to worry about traffic, never had to think about SO many people... I guess it was a little overwhelming.  However, as time passed, I got more used to those things and they don't bother me quite as much as they used to.  Granted, I'd rather not live "in town" forever, but it has grown on me. Golden isn't just a suburb of Denver though.  It has character.  It has charm.  It has nice people... and, nestled in the foot of the Rocky Mountains, it has the most spectacular views.  It is those views that I'm missing the most tonight.  I hate not being able to see what I have been able to see every day for the last year.  I miss "home."

Crape Myrtle

Ever sense we've been in Houston, I have been admiring these pretty trees with little flowers on them.  We don't have anything like this at home.  There are many different colors and shades of colors of the flowers.  I found out today that the tree is called a Crape Myrtle.   Here are some pictures I borrowed of the tree from google images.  Enjoy : )

Deplorable Driving

According to Forbes.com, Houston is the 5th worst city in the United States for traffic.  My evidence:

Before we came to Houston we heard about the way people here drive.  We were hoping it was just rumors.  It's not.  After living here for only a couple of weeks, I can already come up with a list of bad driving habits here that I have consistently witnessed.

1.  Speed Limit - more like "What speed limit?"  If I am obeying the speed limit almost EVERYONE with the exception of maybe one or two vehicles will pass me within seconds.  It is normal to go 5 or 10 miles an hour over the "limit."

2.  School Zones - luckily, school is out for the summer now but this is also an area in which the majority of Houston drivers pay no attention to.  Come on people!  It's a SCHOOL ZONE!!!  There's a 20 MPH speed limit for SAFETY reasons!  This is not only irritating, but dangerous!

3.  Turn Signals - don't exist.  People will cut in front of you without giving even a seconds worth of notice.  They will slow down in front of you for no apparent reason and then turn into a driveway, parking lot, etc.  I wish they would just use their turn signal... that's what it's there for isn't it?

4.  Brakes - the drivers here definitely know how to use their brakes.  They're on them all the time.  There's NO coasting if you see that people are stopping in front of you.  Nope, they're on the gas (already going faster than they should be) and then slamming on their brakes!  I don't think they can imagine going any slower until they absolutely have to stop!

5.  Turn Lanes - apparently don't exist either.  If you are in the inside turn lane I always thought that meant you were supposed to turn into the inside lane of the street you are getting onto.  They must have learned different driving rules here.  Hardly anyone ever follows their turn lane into the correct lane on the road.  This is especially worrisome when there is more than one turn lane and people seem to think that they will be just fine ending up in whatever lane they want.  I'm sure I will see an accident because of this before we leave here.

I heard a conversation on a radio station here this morning that went something like this:

Radio DJ 1:  "And the commute from the Sam Houston Tollway into downtown along the Katy Freeway is only 15 minutes this morning!  Do you people out there even know what a speed limit is?"

Radio DJ 2:  "I think they know what a speed limit is but they're just like the rest of us - they don't pay any attention to them!  That's what the radar gun is for, right?"

Well, there you have it.  The Houston driving mentality in a nutshell!

I refuse to speed just because everyone is passing me.  I will NOT speed in a school zone (how STUPID do you have to be?!).  I will coast instead of slamming on my breaks, and I will turn into the correct lane unless I am trying to avoid an accident because YOU are not turning into the correct lane and are going to cut me off.  I've decided that if the Houston drivers don't like my driving or get annoyed with me, they can just blame it on my out of state plates!

Graduation, Texas and Sea World

My sister, Amanda, graduated high school on Sunday, May 23.  Congratulations Amanda!  I am so proud of you!

Well, we made it to Texas!  We left my parent's house at about 6:30 on Monday morning and arrived in Houston about 25 hours later!  We did stop for a sit down dinner and for a couple of hours to nap, but we weren't too tired so we figured we might as well keep driving!  We had to stop north of Houston to avoid rush hour and we got the most amazing raspberry filled donuts I have ever had.  Mmmmm!  Our apartment is small - just 375 square feet.  The bed is a Murphy Bed which means it folds down out of the wall.  I was afraid that it would be really uncomfortable, but it's really not bad at all!  The apartment came with a small dresser, love seat, and dining room table and chairs.  Oh yes, and I must not forget the added bonus of a washer and dryer AND dishwasher (oh, and actual counter space in the kitchen which we did not have in our apartment last year!)!  YAY!  I have missed having those items SO much!  All of the appliances are about 2/3 the size of regular appliances which I wasn't expecting, but so far has been fine except for not really being able to have our large skillet and a sauce pan next to each other at the same time...  We fit everything we brought to Houston in the back of my car - we'll see if we can do that on the way home!  A couple of things we brought with us were Mark's guitar and my keyboard.  Music is something we weren't willing to give up for the summer.  I'll post some pics of the apartment later when we have everything a bit more organized.  There is a lot of cupboard space here but there are still items that don't really have a place yet.

Mark and I celebrated our 1st anniversary on Sunday, May 30 with a trip to Sea World in San Antonio.  We had a great time even with the heat and a lot of people!  Here are some pictures of our Sea World trip.  : )  To see more pics, you can follow this link:  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064050&id=1439160064&l=bec0648bb3

The Farm

Before Amanda graduates, we're spending a few days at my parents' farm, north of Burns, WY.  There are definitely things that I appreciate about it now that I never paid much attention to when I lived here.  Here's a few pictures that I took around our yard today.

 Four new kittens to love : )  Goldie III, Gray Ball II, Chip, and Theodore.

The windmill in front of our house.

Our dog Bear.  I love him so much!

 One of mom and dad's plows and one of their tractors.

An old wagon wheel that's in our yard.

Some of the many, many antlers that mom and dad pick up out of the fields when they're farming so that they don't pop the tires!

Some of the grain bins in the yard.

The fence on the side of our patio.