Our new house!

We bought a house! Aimee went to its open house while I was down in Kentucky for Max's bachelor party, loved it, and we agreed to put in an offer before I even saw it (contingent on me liking it). I loved it too when I saw it after getting back, and thankfully the sellers countered with an acceptable offer. We're supposed to close May 28. Here's a picture of us on inspection day.

From Our new house!

It's been a long time since we've updated this, since I got a new laptop, have been traveling, etc, but we'll put up some new posts about the last couple months, and more photos of the house, soon.

Lou's Visit

I had a great time when Lou came out to visit me. She came when Steve was down in Texas, so we had lots of girl bonding time. We ate lots of good food, knit and crocheted at knit night, went to yoga, saw the butterflies, went to a quilt exhibit, watched movies and generally had a great time!

From Lou's visit

From Lou's visit

From Lou's visit

From Lou's visit

Yeehawin'

I went up to the Houston Rodeo yesterday with Paul, Matt, Ray, and Stephanie. It was a great time. We got there in time for the sheep herding competition, which was pretty impressive. These dogs had to chase 3 sheep around a set path and then get them into a pen, guided by either voice or whistle commands from their handler.

From Houston Rodeo

After that, it was time for lunch- big baked potatoes covered in sour cream, butter, cheese, pulled pork, and bar-b-que sauce. Fantastic and filling!
We thought we made it in time for an alpaca and llama costume contest, but they had changed the schedule around, so unfortunately we missed it. We still wandered around a bit looking at the animals, petting the soft-looking ones.

From Houston Rodeo

From Houston Rodeo

From Houston Rodeo

The main rodeo event was pretty fun too. They breezed through 9 different competitions, including bull riding, calf roping, and mutton busting. In case you've never seen the last one, check out some youtube videos. It's little kids riding sheep as long as possible. Most fell off right away, but one boy held on at least five seconds. When he did that, he got louder cheers than any of the pros had all afternoon.
Now that I've had this quintessential Texan experience, I think I'm ready to head back to Michigan. Only 6 weeks left; I'm halfway done.

Little Joey

Aimee and I took a great trip out to Albany to visit Dan, Jackie, and our new nephew Joey. We had a great time seeing them, Jackie's family, and Mom, who was also able to come out for a week. The cherry on top... Italian pastries!

From Little Joey

Biking around Lake Jackson

I went on a ride with Paul from Lake Jackson, through Brazoria, and around the prison back home. It was nice getting out, but not our best ride ever. As you can see from the photos, it's not particularly picturesque around here, even when you disregard the surprising number of beer cans on the side of the road. The biggest problem we had was with a few dogs. These guys wanted to protect their territories from us evil bikers intruding on the streets in front. Three of them, at separate houses, weren't tied up and chased us, to the point where we were sprinting away seriously thinking we were about to get bitten. The first one took us by surprise, and as we were talking about it coming down from the excitement, came the second. We didn't hesitate to book it from that one. The third was kind enough to not leave his yard, unlike the previous two who had chased us until they realized they wouldn't catch us. I've never been chased like that before, and hope I don't again. I didn't have that problem last time I went on this ride.

Aside from the dogs, we had a good time getting some fresh air and exercise.

From Bike ride Lake Jackson-Brazoria loop

From Bike ride Lake Jackson-Brazoria loop

From Bike ride Lake Jackson-Brazoria loop

From Bike ride Lake Jackson-Brazoria loop

Replaced by a cat

It's about time we introduce those of you who haven't heard to our newest cat, Gypsy. We saw her at a pet store a couple weeks before I came to Texas, and Aimee instantly fell in love because Gypsy tried rubbing her face up against Aimee's hand through the glass. She warned me that if I went to Texas, she may have to get a new cat to keep her busy, and that's what she did. We were concerned about how the other cats would get along, but they're doing great. Ruby and Gypsy play together and groom each other, and Echo, well, she doesn't act any differently which was the best we hoped for. Yesterday morning Aimee read in bed with one cat on each side and one in her lap, so everyone seems quite happy with the new addition to the household. The first weekend I met Gypsy when I visited, she was still shy and hid a lot under the bed. I can't wait until the next time I'm up there and get to see her in her full affectionate glory.

From Gypsy under the bench

Oh, and special thanks to Ray for helping me construct the bench that Gypsy is standing under. He let me come to his place a few times, showed me how to use all his woodworking tools, and let me borrow them to finish the bench. I haven't had time at home to stain it yet, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

Alligators!

Yeah, that's right, alligators. As in, when Aimee was down here in Texas for Valentine's Day weekend, we went hiking at the nearest place worth hiking- Brazos Bend State Park (an hour away, and a fairly small park to boot). The only thing I heard about it before going was, "If you want to see alligators, go there." I guess we wanted to see some!

Aimee and I had seen an armadillo a couple days earlier but didn't have the camera on us. Now she says I can't come home until I get a picture of an armadillo. Google Image search, thanks for the help.

From Brazos Bend State Park

From Brazos Bend State Park

From Brazos Bend State Park

From Brazos Bend State Park