What's Up With Us

This past weekend was full of highs and lows.

Friday both of us were off and spent the day on one long date. We headed east to Dallas for a movie at Northpark (500 Days of Summer, both of us enjoyed it) then headed even further east to Rockwall for a visit to the Bass Pro Shop there along with their Islamorada Restaurant. Yum-o. We went in search of County Line BBQ, but apparently it closed down?

Anyway, Saturday was more of the same fun: lunch with friends, Wal-Mart (um, yay?), and renting movies at Blockbuster (Confessions of a Shopaholic, liked it.)

But on Saturday night, the evening took quite a 180 when we found out that Brad's grandfather passed away. Over the last few months, Mr. Gentry had several heart attacks and bypass surgery. He had just received a good report at the doctor the week prior, so it was a bit unexpected. We got up Sunday morning and drove to be with Brad's family and were there until after the funeral Tuesday.

We know he is in glory, so in that we find comfort. Reflecting on his life, Brad recalled a verse we recently studied in Sunday school in Paul's first letter to the church at Thessalonica:

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

Mr. Gentry was not a flashy man, but one who took care of his family with a gentle and gracious spirit. I am so thankful for the times we were able to visit since the beginning of this year.

Thank you for your prayers for us and our family during this time.

SWEEP

If you haven't heard, the Rangers swept the Red Sox.


We went with friends...


...and had lots of fun!


And now I am feeling the effects
of two really late nights this week.

Minnesota Peaches

Last Saturday night we had some church friends over for hamburgers. (I don't know why I say church friends because they are just regular friends too.) One of the couples has been in the process of moving to Oklahoma after a couple of years here in seminary, so this is one of the last get-togethers we'll be having with them as residents. Surely they will come back and visit, and we'll do it again.

(Unfortunately I didn't get pics of everyone. Perhaps I will begin making people pose as they come in the front door, like on a cruise ship?)


Here's the night by the numbers:

8 hamburgers and
15 jalapenos making
30 of Pioneer Woman's jalapeno/bacon/cream cheese things eaten by
8 people +
1 4 year old +
1 baby who almost rolled over

2 Teams playing
4 games of Digital Catchphrase where
4 girls were victorious even on the round where
1 tricky person changed it over to SPORTS (take that, boys!) and
2 viewings of The Lion King by one cute little blondie.


God has blessed us so much in giving such a sweet and fun fellowship with these people in this season of our lives. Definitely a fun Saturday night!

12 Innings

This baseball season has reminded me of my sophomore year of college, where I missed very few Aggie baseball homestands. My grades definitely showed it, and my parents probably weren't too thrilled, but I had a great time. And really, isn't that what college is all about? No?

Oh yes I forgot--college is also about sleeping late.

This year I've been to a record (for me) number of Rangers games and probably will still make a few more before the season's over. I'm not really sure how it happened, but I have no complaints. I think it's one of the best parts of living in the DFW area, and fortunately, I no longer have to worry about studying for tests (or worry because of not studying enough for tests) and can go have fun.

Last night, we headed out to the Ballpark compliments of the Cooks and had a great time. Our seats were the best I've ever sat in--second row on the first base side. We were within FEET of two foul balls. The Rangers must've wanted us to enjoy our seats for longer than usual since they took it into extra innings. We had fun, and it was a 'W'!


Saturday night after a discussion among friends, the general consensus was that it would be awesome if Josh Hamilton changed his batting music to "The Great Adventure" by Steven Curtis Chapman. So, you can only imagine the great delight we had when that very song came on as we were driving home (including "The Prologue" if you know what I'm talking about.) Loud singing happened. Very, very loud.

Thanks Ashley and Chris for the laughs and the fun!

Watch Out Lance Armstrong

So, for our anniversary, we decided to purchase some bikes. Due to my lack of cycling skills, I had some major criteria that my bike needed to meet. First and foremost, it needed to be pink. Second, I needed to be able to touch the ground while sitting on the seat. And three, it needed a great big cushiony seat. Comfort is very important, my friends.


I ended up with an Electra Townie 3i in pink pearl. The Townie is great for two types of riders: those who are rather timid on a bike and older bike riders. I figure for now I fit into the first category, and eventually I'll be in the second. That's a win-win.

Call it an old lady bike if you must, but I call it awesome.



Brad on his new Trek 7100, color Root Beer Float.

Here I am on Pink Thunder 2.
(I owned the original Pink Thunder back when I was 5.)

We bought them from Bicycles Inc. They were great to work with, and of course they let me test ride it a few weeks ago. We bought helmets too because we're safe like that.

See you on the road when it gets a little cooler.

If you feel like givin' me a lifetime of devotion

I second that emotion.

Happy Anniversary Mr. G.

Love,
The Mrs.

Celebrating Four Years

Our four year wedding anniversary is coming up this Thursday. We have tons of fun things planned with friends next weekend, so it worked out perfectly for us to celebrate early. We decided to take a short break and go east for a night out.

Friday afternoon we drove to Dallas for a stay at the Fairmont. We stayed at the Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui on our honeymoon, so it was kinda sweet to stay at another of their properties. It did not disappoint.

We checked in and headed up to the 19th floor.
To our delight, we had been upgraded!


Within minutes we were at the pool for the afternoon--an oasis right in the middle
of downtown. We had late dinner reservations so we had plenty of time to hang out.


Brad made reservations at Newport's, a great seafood place down near
Victory Plaza. The food is wonderful, especially the flourless chocolate cake.



Saturday morning we got up and just laid around reading for a while. We had no plans and no need to be in a hurry, which doesn't happen very often. I need more mornings like it! Once we finally got ready to leave, we headed over to La Duni for brunch. YUM.

(Then we did some shopping. The man must love me a lot, because he's not a shopper.)

Such a fun and relaxing short trip. Thanks for the break, Sweetie!

Half Year Update on My 2009 Reading List

I made a list of books to read this year to slowly get me through that list of 1001 books to read before you die. Now, that's quite a bit of reading, but even if I don't make it, that gives me a central place from which to pull titles.

A couple of these were light and easy, girly reads for summer in my opinion, so ladies if you need a beach book, check out Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day or Agnes Grey. Some of the others I had to fight my way through. I fear those left on my list may be more of the same. We'll see!

I got a little carried away this past month with some trashy "after Pride and Prejudice" novels, so hopefully now I'm back on track with The Mill on the Floss.

Emily's Required Reading for 2009 (in no certain order)
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Winifred Watson
Billy Budd Herman Melville
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man James Joyce
Treasure Island Robert Lewis Stevenson
Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
The Mysteries of Udolpho Ann Radcliff
Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray
Last of the Mohicans James Fenimore Cooper
Ivanhoe Sir Walter Scott
Agnes Grey Anne Bronte
The Mill on the Floss George Eliot (currently in progress)
The End of the Affair Graham Greene
The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger

We ♥ America!

These are the only two pictures I took:


Ashley and Coop by the orange illumination of the Home Depot sign.


Self-portrait.

We spent the early part of the 4th buying Brad some socks (no more holes!) and ditching the rec for Chick fil a. Later that night, we went southwest with the Cooks and Ericksons to Glen Rose where we ate at Loco Coyote. The Cooks introduced us to it a few weeks ago where they have the most delicious (and huge) chicken fried steaks, barbecue, chicken tenders, gravy, onion rings, and on and on and on. Definitely worth the drive.

From there, we started back towards town with a stop at the Home Depot parking lot in Granbury to watch the fireworks. The City of Granbury puts on a great show over the lake. The last time we were there on the 4th was while we were still dating. Fun memory.

As a nation, we are so blessed with a tradition of commitment to public service from our peace officers to our servicemen and women. They are out there everyday protecting our safety and freedom, whether on our neighborhood streets or in foreign lands. On the off chance that one of you might stumble across my blog, please accept my humble thanks for all that you do.

Feliz Cumpleanos a el Drew

(I don't know Spanish, so there's no telling what that means. Something birthday and Drew.)

We had a most excellent start to our holiday weekend by celebrating Drew's birthday. My parents came up, and we all went to Joe T's for dinner Thursday night. It was hot waiting in line, but once we were seated the temp was just perfect.


Cake by Ashley Cooks Cakes.
It was strawberry and delicious.

Friday part of our group went to Canton to meet up with my Aunt Sheri and Grannie while the others played golf. We spent part of the day in the junk part of the market where I was looking for some very specific junk. I need something with which to fill an apothecary jar. (Feel free to leave a suggestion!)