Thanks a lot

For whoever did this....


just remember: Karma...

Julie & Juila

My wonderful husband went with me last week to see my favorite movie. Yes, that's right! I finally have a favorite movie! I've never had one before :) I wrote more about it on my cooking blog (obviously), but I just wanted to share. If you haven't seen it, you absolutely must see it. It's absolutely terrific! If you have, here are some fun links that you might find very interesting :)

Julie Powell's Current Blog
Julie Powell's Blog that started it all
The first day of Julie Powell's blog :) After seeing this movie, it's exciting to read it.
The Book

Enjoy! Oh, and did you see it? What did you think?!

Palo Duro Canyon and Brandon and Gradee's Wedding

On Friday, Henry and I flew out to Amarillo for Brandon and Gradee's wedding. Brandon was in Class Councils with Henry and I during college, and..well, Brandon and I worked together all the time. He snagged a wonderful girl, and their wedding was very sweet.

First, the flying part of the trip. Somewhere somehow this year, I got cursed with plane delays. It's inevetiable. On Friday, random storms popped up in Houston right over Bush IAH. I have no idea why, but the crews continued to load us on the plane, the pilot even pushed back from the terminal and headed for the runway. We were about to take off, and the pilot came over to say, "Uh, they shut down the airport." "Ya think?!" was Henry and I's response. We did not understand why they preceded to squish us into that tiny plane when lighting was striking literally at the airport. Nonetheless, we got there and stopped by the hotel everyone was staying at and got to see Brandon and a bunch of our friends from college.

On Saturday, Henry and I got up and headed to Palo Duro Canyon to go hiking. Yes, that's right, and it was even my idea, believe it or not. We hiked like 5.5 miles, and it was really fun...except for me flipping out about all the bugs infinitely flying around me.

After hiking, we got ready for Brandon and Gradee's wedding.
Congrats Gradee and Brandon!!!

Searching for a Home

While you might think this post is about Henry and I searching for a home, it isn't. Because my grandmother (paternal) has Alzheimer's, we are currently searching for an Assisted Living Facility that specializes in dementia care for her to reside.

Hmmm, that's a lot of heavy info for one sentence.

That said, since her diagnosis in '06, we, as a family, have been very fortunate to have Mattie, Nana's sister, as her caretaker. She's been over-the-top amazing in openly willing and desiring to care for her. Such a blessing.

However, now there's a definitive change in the progression of the disease, and we feel it's best that we transition Nana to a new residence soon. We are all in the middle of visiting communities to find which one best fits the needs Nana has at this point and moving forward, as best we can predict. We've been to three appointments thus far and have four more from now until Monday. From there, we'll meet and discuss what is best.

There's more to consider than any one of us realized going into this. While we want her to be able to walk, play games, and live as independently as possible, the previous appointments we have had have opened our eyes to other possibilities that she might need. That said, it's hard for us to know which of any of these attributes is truly important for her specifically.

I've browsed through the discussion boards on the Alzheimer's Association website, but I still haven't found anything that really makes me feel like I have anything to add to our decision or ask anything additional of these communities. While it's in no way the same level of importance, but I feel like it's trying to pick a doctor in this city. Hello! We live in the Med capital of the nation; picking a good doc is hard even when we are supposed to have only the best here. It's somewhat of how I feel when going to these appointments at these communities. I feel like they will all do a good job, but it's just a matter of deciding what is right for Nana. Weighing in the opinions of 8 people doesn't make it any easier.

I've tried to ask about people's experiences through different avenues, but that doesn't seem to be helping either. I suppose it's a good thing that not many people have ever had to do this, but...right now...it'd be nice to have people that have this experience and know what to add to the conversation. Ultimately this is an experience that...looking into the future...I hope brings us all closer together, but it, of course, is not an easy one to make.

If you've done this before, how did you decide on the community you selected?

Fix N' Mix' Shower

Yesterday, August 1st, we threw a Fix' N' Mix' Couples Shower for some college friends, Brandon Davis and Gradee Adrian. They were engaged not too too long before we got married, and I still remember the day Brandon called me and told me he was going to propose to Gradee! I was so so thrilled and excited. Gradee, I don't think I've ever told you about that phone call! Brandon that just shows you how much of a secret I wanted to keep your big surprise :)

Anyways, we had a blast yesterday, and Brandon and Gradee had a wonderful time, we can tell. Because we don't exactly have a lot of square footage to have people over, we decided to crash a hip Houston establishment for the fun festivity; The Chocolate Bar! Guests were able to devour anything they wanted from cakes, cookies, brownies, drinks (including milk!), and best of all....ICE CREAM!!! Everyone was loving us when they arrived, but when they were leaving...haha, not so much. I'm just kidding; everyone loved it!

Can you see the happy faces?!

Here's most of the guys that came to support Brandon!

Here's most of the ladies that came to support Gradee :)

A nice group shot. There's a lot of love in this picture!

Brandon and Gradee got some great gifts for their new home and new life together, and we are excited to celebrate their wedding with them in Amarillo in a few weeks!