Twilight by Emily

This is my niece Emily's drawing. She and I've been both reading the Twilight series and she couldn't sleep one night so she drew this. She loves to draw! This is her interpretation of what the characters would look like after having read the books. She and I had discussions on what they'd look like and even had done a few drawings prior to this but this is what she decided on and even colored it in with the color pencils. I LOVE it! and I LOVE the fact that she's got an artistic side to her so I try to embrace it as much as I can and help her wherever possible! Future artist!!!

Amazing little Starfish...

I got a little obsessed with this little starfish. I saw him moving around and burrowing himself under the sand. So naturally, I followed him around, digging him out of the sand he had just dug himself under just so I can film and take pictures of him moving around and burrowing himself under sand again. So mean, I know... but it was for educational purposes and I left him alone after I got what I wanted, I mean needed. :)

All of these pictures are of the same starfish. I also took video of him moving around and burrowing. You can see these videos on my YouTube page. The link is under my profile. Check it out!

My Hot Hubby... Hubba hubba!

Birdie thru the eye hole...

I was messing around and took this picture through the binoculars!

Our game set-up

We went back to Mustang Island (Port A) to enjoy it even more. Here's our set-up for playing Skip-Bo, our water bottles, chips, and hanging our beach towels. It made us think of the Corona Beer commercials! Hee Hee!

Our Wedding Anniversary Dinner!!!

We loved Mustang Island (Port Aransas) so much that we decided to stay for our anniversary dinner. We found a very cute restaurant called Moby Dick and celebrated with a yummy dinner of fried shrimp, stuffed crab, etc. We just loved the wacky decor of this place. We had fun celebrating our two years of marriage!

Mustang Island, Port Aransas, TX

We drove further out to Padre Island, Mustang Island and Port Aransas. We stopped at numerous beaches on the way but not before we stopped and got a parking pass sticker for our car. It's good at all of the beaches and it's good for the entire calendar year. We were amused at the fact that we had a "beach" parking pass sticker on our car in TEXAS... Funny! Once we got to Mustang Island, we took one of the access roads that led to the beaches and were floored at the fact that you get to DRIVE your car on the beach, on the sand... wow, just like in the movies! We decided to take it in a bit but then didn't find another access road leading out to the streets until almost 10 miles later. Yup, 10 miles of driving 15mph on the sand, on the beach. But we had fun taking in the sights, stopping for photos, etc.

We also went down to the jettys at the end where tons of peeps were fishing. Some were even snorkeling and spear fishing near the jettys. There were lots of fish there and we even saw turtles on the other side of the jetty. Of-course we HAD to go swimming here so we can see the fish too but no worries, we stayed far enough from all of the fishing poles so we wouldn't get wheeled in. But we did have a bit of a scare when Rob saw a stingray as soon as we got further into the ocean. It wasn't very big but I got nervous so I stayed close to Rob while he inspected further... and then voila! We saw another one! We moved around a bit but after a minute, we didn't see anymore and nothing else so we relaxed and enjoyed the waves. Only when we got closer to the jetty where majority of the ocean life were and also to the shallower water did we find another stingray. Rob accidentally stepped on its tail so it went darting out from under his legs and between mine to find safety. Luckily Rob didn't get hurt from stepping on him. We found out later that this action COULD have caused him pain. We just got lucky!

Corpus Christi, TX

For our wedding anniversary, we decided to take a trip down to Corpus Christi to explore the beaches in Texas. We weren't expecting much, being Texas and all... but were pleasantly surprised by the sand, clean ocean and the wonderful temperature of the water. We stayed at a hotel right off the beach near the USS Lexington. Even with the huge ship parked there, the water was very clean and the sand was wonderfully soft. But of-course, as soon as we went into the ocean and started our way out a bit, Rob spotted a jellyfish so we stayed alert for a while and kept an eye for more. I don't like them! Ouchy!!!!

Racing tracks in Austin

Of-course Rob had to find the racing tracks here in Austin. He found this one called Driveway Austin and they were having an "open house" type event so we went there and took Justin with us. Justin loves speed and racing, etc. so we thought he'd enjoy it. If he takes classes, etc. there, he can drive his M3 or whichever car he wants on these tracks. They train police officers here as well as all civilians who want to learn how to race. We were talking to the owner and he gave us a full tour of the tracks as well as their future plans for development. After the tour, he decided to give Rob a taste by taking him on an Ariel Atom for a few laps on the track. Bill was showing off his 20 years of racing by zooming around the tracks. It was a little nerve racking since Rob didn't have his helmet with him, not to mention that he was wearing shorts and flip flops... not his usual racing attire obviously but he had fun.

Officially a Texan!!!

I got my new Texas drivers license in the mail today! I'm officially a Texan now! Who would of thunk it?!? I sadly had to give up my California drivers license a couple of weeks ago and have been carrying around the piece of paper as a temporary license. I wanted to keep my CA drivers license but would I have been able to use it at all? No! It would have just been for nostalgia sake! This picture has nothing to do with my getting the TX drivers license but I had to post something since I can't put a scan of my drivers license. Here is a picture I took in Hawaii instead. :)

I've done alot since the last posting but you don't need to hear about me running errands, watching movies in the theatre room, exploring the city, etc. so I'm saving you from them. I'm trying to post more of the interesting events.

More faves... more of my pics!

Anaeho'omalu Beach, Maui

Seattle, WA
Anaeho'omalu Beach, Maui
Old Town Montreal, Canada
Point Dume, Malibu, CA
Turtle Beach, Oahu
Seaport Village, San Diego, CA
North Shore, Oahu
Westport, NY

Random pics - some of the pictures I've taken...

Oahu, HawaiiPalm Springs
Anaeho'omalu Beach, Maui Van Nuys, CA
Montreal, Canada

Exploring Korean restaurants in Austin

Rob's been obssessed with helping me find decent Korean restaurants in Austin since they're fairly scarce so we've been trying whichever ones we can find. We accidentally ran into another one called the Korea House so we tried it for lunch. It was actually pretty good and the prices were definitely reasonable. We'll definitely come back here again. This picture was taken with my mobile phone. A little out of focus but you get the idea of the meal...

After lunch we went back home to take the girls (Emily and Haley) for their weekly Art Class. Marina and Justin were busy so they asked if we can take them to their class. We've been doing this on quite a few of the Saturdays. It's a great time to spend with the girls and to see the development of their artwork in class.

Happy Birthday Pete!!!

It's Pete's B-day today!!! He and Jan have the same birthday and are great friends. I guess sharing their birthday has their perks! This is one of my favorite photos of me and Pete. Happy birthday buddy!!!

Happy Birthday Jan!!!

Today is Jan's Birthday!!! Happy birthday to a very good friend!!! This was taken of us during last week in California before the move. Miss you friend!

Art Festival at "Bead It"

We went to a bead store called "Bead It" in SoCo area that was having an art festival with live bands. There were many vendors showing and selling their art, photography, jewelry, etc. There were so many cool pieces there. There were also supposed to be 6 live bands playing but we only made it through one before we got tired and left. By then, we had seen all of the vendors and even walked through the entire Bead It store checking out all of their cool beads. It was great to see some local artist and their pieces! Whoever thought there'd be an art festival with live bands at a bead store. Only in Austin!

Clay Pit

Rob and I met his old friend Steve and his wife Chris for dinner at Clay Pit in downtown. Rob has known Steve for a long time and haven't seen him in a number of years so it was a treat to find out that Steve lived here in Austin. Steve suggested Clay Pit for dinner which is a wonderful Indian restaurant in town. We pigged out and walked around the building. The building has a lot of history behind it. It had housed a family that lived upstairs while the ground floor was used as a store. The basement kept their slaves, who were often tied-up in shackles (very sad). The metal rings for these shackles still remained on the walls which was very creepy to look at. This building also is on the "haunted tour" of Austin as there is a story that a boy died in the building and his ghost has been seen. Dinner, friends, AND history! Pretty cool!

Hyde Park Grill

Rob and I went to Hyde Park Grill near downtown to meet Jennifer and her boyfriend Brian for dinner. Jennifer is a friend of a friend from Los Angeles. Since we're now living in the same town, we wanted to meet and possibly become friends. Jen and Brian were both very nice and fun to hang out with. We'll definitely be seeing them again. It's nice to make friends in the new city!

One year and 11 month Anniversary!!!

It's our One year and 11 month Anniversary!!! We had to celebrate it so we went for a nice date and splurged on lunch at the Hula Hut. We heard it was a cute place for a meal and it's right on the lake with boat docks so you can take your boat there... outside patios overlooking the lake, etc. Such a cute place and totally our style! We finished off our date by going to the movies at Alamo Drafthouse, which is a movie theatre that has a full menu of food, drinks, desserts, etc. They also has special nights where they have sing-alongs or show older movies that are classics with commentators, etc. All kinds of different ways to watch movies. It's great!

Mambo Berry

Mambo berry is our own Austin version of Pink Berry. All of us, including my brother and his wife, Marina who now is addicted to Pink Berry especially after their last visit to Los Angeles, has been in search of frozen yogurt here in Austin good enough to be compared to Pink Berry. We have a winner! Mambo Berry is yummy to say the least. We've gone there a few times already, separately my brother & his family, me & Rob. I told Jackie about this too so we've been planning with her & Anthony to go so they can try it for themselves. We finally made it after our dinner at Shady Grove. Y-U-M-M-Y!!! When are we going again?!?

Shady Grove

Rob and I met Anthony and his girlfriend, Jackie for dinner at Shady Grove near downtown. Anthony is Rob's brother Cam's best friend who just happened to move to Austin a few months back. We were excited to see Anthony and Jackie as we've had dinner with them once already and had a great time with them. It's nice to have some friends here in our new home town area.

Miranda and Miley

Maizelle and her daughter Miranda just happened to go to Islands in Glendale for lunch and voila! Miley Cyrus was there with her mom and sister for lunch as well. Miranda LOVES Miley and Hanna Montana. She got a chance to talk to her a bit about their braces (Mirand just got hers and Miley is about to get hers?!?), get her autograph and also take this picture with her using her mobile phone. Miranda was VERY excited!!!

My car is finally here!!!

My car finally got delivered to Austin today!!! Yeh!!! We've left it at my parents house all this time while we were unpacking and getting settled here in Austin. There were lots of drivers coming out to Austin but not many were going back to LA so we had to wait until there was a driver making such a trip. Everyone's still moving out to Austin but not so much the other way around. Anyways, my car was finally getting delivered today so Rob and I went to meet them. Since my DMV registration was due yesterday, I had to hurry up and get it registered here in Austin so that I wouldn't be delinquent with the DMV. The DMV wouldn't of mattered since it was for California but I didn't want any problems with the BMW dealership since it's financed by them as it is a lease. I was very excited to have my car back and to be able to drive it again! I've really missed it. So funny the things you get used to... We had to get the car inspected so that we can get it registered. We got both my car and Rob's car inspected and registered. They gave us our Texas license plates when we registered so we spent a few minutes in the parking afterwards switching out the plates. Wow, my car's first day in Austin and it already has a Texas plate on it. This picture isn't of my license plate but you get the idea of what it looks like...